BOWLING GREEN — Erica Johnson patiently dribbled the ball at the free-throw line as she waited to take two crucial shots in the final seconds of Ohio’s suddenly close game against Bowling Green. The Falcons, who were down 16 points at halftime, were a shot away from taking their first lead since the first quarter, but Johnson was unfazed.
With the raucous crowd around her, there was only one thought in her mind.
“Silence the crowd, E,” Johnson told herself. “Just silence the crowd. You’ve shot millions of free throws, and this was nothing different.”
Johnson knocked down both shots, and her relaxed composure and confident mindset Saturday helped prevent Bowling Green from completing the comeback in Ohio’s 82-79 win.
The score, the crowd and the consequences of suffering a loss to Bowling Green — who are winless in Mid-American Conference play — never rattled Johnson.
“For me, it’s easy,” Johnson said. “It’s your experience. You have to relax yourself, and if you let someone else beat you up, it’s not good.”
Experience is something Johnson, a redshirt freshman, lacks compared to her teammates. But her 22-point performance, complemented with five rebounds and a team-leading five steals, showed that she’s a quick learner.
Johnson cracked Bowling Green’s offensive plan, which centered around finding space for Morgan McMillen and Andrea Cecil, in the first half and nabbed three steals in the first 12 minutes of play. Johnson never hesitated to inch into a passing lane, and her instincts gave the Falcons fits as Ohio expanded its lead.
“When you know where the ball’s going, it’s easy for you to hop out there,” she said. “For a couple plays, it was just right in front of me.”
Then the Bobcats began to collapse. Their offense shot 10-for-33 in the second half and lost its shooting touch. With several players showing frustration as their shots clanked off the rim, Johnson kept her cool.
She splashed a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the third quarter to give Ohio an eight-point cushion and drained all four of her free throws in the fourth quarter amidst an abysmal day for the Bobcats at the free-throw line. Ohio only made 11 of its 25 charity shots.
“At some point, the ball has to go through the hoop if you want to win games,” Johnson said as Kendall Jessing rushed by and playfully shouted, “I want to be Erica when I grow up.”
While Bowling Green called timeouts and committed fouls to slow down the game and increase the pressure, Johnson’s confidence never wavered. Her final two free-throws proved that if Ohio lost the game, it wasn’t because of her.
“She continues to learn and is invested in how to get better,” coach Bob Boldon said. “I certainly think her best basketball is ahead of her.”
