Ohio (15-9 Overall, 9-4 Mid-American Conference) held on against Kent State (11-3 Overall, 5-7 MAC) in The Convo on Saturday despite a strong push by the Golden Flashes late in the game.
The win, which was a dominant 71-61, gave the Bobcats their third conference win in a row.
“Not taking anyone lightly, and trusting our work each and every day,” graduate student forward Elli Garnett said when asked about the key to this win streak. “Any game is winnable, so we just go in with a chip on our shoulder every game and want to come out with the win.”
Garnett had a phenomenal game Saturday. She recorded five 3-pointers, 19 points and four rebounds.
The first quarter started fast as both teams were shooting very well to begin. The Bobcats' very good offensive rebounding helps them capitalize on most of their possessions, which allows them to jump to an early lead.
Ohio added on to that lead significantly due to superb shooting, specifically from Garnett, who had a trio of 3-pointers and 11 points through the first half of the first quarter to start her fantastic day and give the team a 12-point lead.
“I’m going into my games more confident in my shot,” Garnett said. “I don’t let a missed shot stick with me, and my teammates have been finding me.”
Kent State tried to stay pace with Ohio throughout the rest of the quarter. However, the Bobcats' shooting and rebounding were absolutely suffocating the Golden Flashes. Ohio’s defense also tightened up, which helped it maintain an early 12-point lead to end the quarter with a score of 27-15.
The second quarter started a lot slower than the first, as both defenses started playing better. Ohio’s perimeter offense wasn’t working as well to start this quarter, so it switched to playing in the paint, where the team saw a lot of success and extended the lead.
Ohio’s stellar defense and rebounding helped it slowly keep building a bigger and bigger lead. Garnnet continued her phenomenal game with another three this quarter to put her at four 3-pointers and 14 points. Not only was she doing a great job scoring, but she was also able to rack up three rebounds and an assist in the first half.
Phenomenal shooting and rebounding, plus a very strong defense, led to Ohio absolutely dominating this quarter and extending their lead to a whopping 23 points with a score of 44-21.
Kent State came out of the half strong with five straight points, but Garnett ended that small run with her fifth 3-pointer of the game. After that, it became a back-and-forth game with both teams shooting well while also playing good defense.
The Bobcats easily maintained their large lead throughout the first half of the third quarter. Kent State played very aggressive defense to the end of the quarter in an attempt to dig out of its large pit.
Kent State started the final quarter how it ended the last one, by slowly chipping away at its deficit as it brought it down to just 14 points, which caused Ohio to use a timeout early in the quarter.
The Golden Flashes came out of that timeout and kept lowering the Bobcats lead, which caused head coach Bob Bolden to use another timeout.
“Just stay composed, and do your job,” coach Bolden said to his team when Kent State was rallying back.
Kent State continued to fight, and it brought the game to within six points with five minutes left. Despite a very strong push from the Golden Flashes, the Bobcats were able to hang on due to many clutch shots at the end of the game, helping shift momentum back to the home team’s favor. Ohio would win this game by 10 with a final score of 71-61.
This three-game MAC win streak for Ohio comes at a vital time in the season. Every late-season game matters as the Bobcats are trying to maintain their spot in the MAC standings.
“We need to maintain this energy and intensity,” coach Bolden said. “The ultimate goal is to play your best basketball at this time of the year, and learn from your past miscues.”
