They had 'em right where they wanted 'em, and let 'em off the hook.
With a slim lead at halftime, the Bobcats (4-10, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) appeared to have seized enough momentum to slow Kent State in their MAC opener last night in Kent.
But that wasn't the case as Ohio dropped its first conference game, 70-66.
Jennifer Bushby potted 14 points in the first 20 minutes, and was red-hot from the land of 3. She made four of her first five attempts, and Ohio had a five-point bulge with a minute left in the first frame.
For the game, the Bobcats shot almost as well from beyond the arc (45 percent) as they did from the field (46.4).
(The 3-point shooting) was huge for us
guard Jenny Poff said. When other people are stepping up and making shots it opens up other opportunities for us.
But the Golden Flashes (8-5, 1-0 MAC), who fell behind by as many as six in the second half, regained the momentum late in the game as the Bobcats' once-hot shooting touch went frosty.
Da'Keisha Mann's layup with less than three minutes remaining gave her team a four-point lead, its largest since just after halftime.
Things were going Ohio's way for the most part. But two players who had been held in check for most of the game caught fire.
Kent guard Taisja Jones stole the ball from Poff with 2:44 to play, forcing Ohio's center Thia Gholson to foul Kent State's Jamilah Humes.
Humes split her pair of free throws, and then the Bobcats handed the ball right back to Kent.
On their next trip down the floor, Humes sunk a 3-pointer to even the score at 65 apiece.
Both teams exchanged layups before Danielle Woodmore turned the ball over to Jones, who had to be fouled with 30 seconds left and a one-point lead.
(Late in the game) we started trading baskets and it went back and forth Poff said. They came down every time after we did and scored.
We never got the momentum going our way.
The Bobcats can look no further than ball control for their lack of momentum. Ohio was guilty of 18 turnovers on the night
and many of them were parlayed into buckets for the Golden Flashes.
Turnovers are always something we focus on, Poff said. But it's been an issue for us...we're trying to take care of the ball better.
Humes and Jones combined for 40 points and really heated up as time ticked away in the second half.
Bushby finished with 21 points
and Poff added 14 for the Bobcats
who got 35 bench points after a stellar outing by the reserves last weekend against Colgate.
Ohio will need to clean up its ball control issues before its home conference opener on Saturday against a hot Bowling Green squad.
Coming into their game last night
the Falcons had won four of their last five
and nine of 11.
Coach Semeka Randall could not be reached for comment in time for printing.
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30080,2010-01-07 01:28:00,Men's Basketball: Bobcats triumph at buzzer,Last-second heroics saved the Bobcats from another defeat.
Junior guard Armon Bassett hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Ohio a 63-62 win over Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis on the road last night.,Last-second heroics saved the Bobcats from another defeat.
Junior guard Armon Bassett hit a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Ohio a 63-62 win over Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis on the road last night.
Freshman guard D.J. Cooper took the inbounds pass with 2.9 seconds to go
trailing by two
and launched a pass to an open Bassett in the corner. Boos rained down from the stands as the Bobcats (9-5) escaped Conseco Fieldhouse with a one-point victory.
(Cooper), the good point guard that he is, dribbled through two or three people and kicked it to me, and the shot just fell down for me, Bassett said.
Coach John Groce said he was not sure he had enough time to run the play he wanted
but he trusted his freshman point guard.
I saw that I had (Cooper), and he's pretty fast, so I let him try to create, Groce said. He made an unbelievable read and put the pass on time and on target and obviously (Bassett) hit a huge shot.
IUPUI used a 13-0 run to take control late in the game
