Sports
Ohio Women’s Basketball Falls To Miami In Tournament
By: Colin Hanner
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As if following the script of the blundered season this year, the Ohio women’s basketball team (6-23) dropped its second game to Miami (19-11) in four days, 83-61, putting an end to Ohio’s season. The RedHawks’ Courtney Osborn could not be contained by Ohio’s defense, as she put up a career-high 39 points, which included seven made shots from beyond the arc.
After getting off to an evidently good start, Ohio took an early lead just five minutes into the game, where they were shooting 4-5 from the field. Yet, Miami’s Osborn started to fill into her role as potential MAC Player of the Year, scoring 12 points in a seven-minute span where the RedHawks went on a 24-6 run. Ohio trailed 46-27 at the half.
The trend of dominance for Miami went almost undisturbed in the second half, save for a slight run for Ohio which narrowed the RedHawks’ lead to 12 points with under five minutes of play.
Shavon Robinson ended the game with 14 points, a team-high for the Bobcats, with Kiyanna Black and Symone Lyles adding 11 points each for Ohio. Just a day earlier, Black was honored with a spot on the MAC All-Freshman Team, a feat not attained for a Bobcat since Robinson received it two years ago.
Kirsten Olowinski added 14 points for Miami and Hannah Robertson rounded out RedHawks in double-figures with 11 points. Miami made over half of their attempts (55.6 percent), nearly 20-percent higher than the Bobcats. Led by Osborn’s red-hot hand from beyond the three-point line, Miami shot over 60-percent from distance.
In a season where nothing seemed to go right for the Green and White in conference play, the Ohio women’s team struggled with a series of injuries that began just before conference play started. Seemingly healthy about halfway through MAC play, the Bobcats never seemed to regain momentum that started to build after their away win at Xavier in early January.
In the last year of her contract, head coach Semeka Randall’s certainty as head coach for next year is up in the air. The worst MAC record in Bobcat history came this season, as well as the longest losing streak in recent history.