Sports
‘Cats Right Back to Winning Ways, Topple NIU 95-70
By: Connor Martin, Jordan Gallagher
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The Bobcats took the court with a vengeance forcing 23 turnovers en route to toppling Northern Illinois 95-70. A season high 30 points in the first quarter put them out in front early on their way to routing the Huskies.
The ‘Cats put up 52 in the first half against NIU after only managing 43 points in their first conference loss of the season to Buffalo earlier this week. That led to 95 points for the bobcats, the most points scored by any MAC team this year.
“I thought our ball movement was better and our player movement was better, we got better shots than we’ve gotten recently,” said coach Boldon post game. “Though we were a lot less passive today than we have been in the last couple weeks.”
Dominate defense and a balanced offense propelled Ohio to its early lead. All five starters had points three minutes into the game. The equality on the offensive side continued as 11 players scored for Ohio. The Huskies offense was nowhere to be found, scrounging up only eight points in the first quarter while committing 11 turnovers.
Back-to-back buzzer beaters in the first half and a 29-point lead did not slow down the ‘Cats in the third. A plethora of three pointers and offensive rebounds started the second half and helped the Bobcats surpass their season average of 71 points a game, with 75 points heading into the final 10 minutes.
Quiera Lampkins who was recognized before the game for scoring 1,000 career points, finished with a game-high 23 points. Kiyanna Black added on 21 of her own and Kelly Karlis matched her career-high with 13 points. Ohio finished shooting 46-percent from the field while compiling 19 assists.
“I thought KiKi and KB did a good job of setting the tone and being aggressive,” Boldon mentioned.
Jasmine Weatherspoon’s impact was felt immediately after she missed the game against Buffalo. She scored the first points of the game and added three blocks. “We needed her, she’s always there to get the rebound, she’s our backbone,” said Lampkins of Weatherspoon.
The Bobcats have a week off to catch up on rest before they travel to Toledo to take on the Rockets next Saturday at 2 p.m.