Sports
Ohio Women’s Basketball: Bobcats Win Nail-Biter Against Buffalo Bulls
By: Nick Henthorn
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — The Buffalo Bulls outperformed the Ohio Bobcats in several measurables Wednesday in the Convocation Center. A rebounding advantage of 49-35, including four more offensive rebounds. A 45%-38% edge in field goal efficiency. Twelve more points in the paint. Yet in the end, despite being down 13 points with under four minutes to go, Ohio secured the only advantage that matters, beating the rival Bulls 84-81 thanks to late-game heroics from several Bobcats.
Trailing 73-60 with less than four minutes to go, Buffalo seemed to be salting the game away. Leading scorer Dyaisha Fair had found her shot after scoring only four points in the first half, and the Bulls were using clock and, as they had been all game, getting offensive rebounds for extra possessions.
But after two free throws from CeCe Hooks, the comeback was on.
The Bobcats never wavered for those four minutes, playing fast but poised, and did whatever they could to get the ball back. In those final minutes, Ohio deployed a full-court press, and forced three offensive fouls, picked up four steals, got possession on a held ball, and benefitted from one unforced turnover.
“You get to a point where your back’s against the wall and you’ve just got to do it, you can’t let them play 30 seconds of basketball,” Coach Bob Boldon said of his team’s late-game defense. “And I thought our kids did a great job of listening. We talked about what we wanted to do, and they executed it and they deserve a ton of credit for the execution. The idea is the easy part, it’s the execution.”
Several players got a moment to shine during the final rally- Erica Johnson hit a three-pointer and dished an assist after coming back in the game from a scary scene, hitting her head on the court after a hard fall earlier in the quarter. Gabby Burris displayed some heads-up basketball with 30 seconds left, tipping an inbounds pass while defending the inbounder, before hitting the ball back into the inbounder to force a turnover. Madi Mace made timely baskets, with a three pointer and two free throws to bring Ohio within two points.
“You can just go down the line of everybody contributing and it feels like one of the better team wins we’ve had the last two years,” Boldon said.
Without a doubt, though, the most important moment came with ten seconds left, with the Bobcats down two, from a player who had not yet attempted a shot in the game.
Coming out of a timeout with 20 seconds left, Hooks got by her defender and drove to the basket. With Bulls all around her, she kicked the ball out to the corner where a wide open Kaylee Bambule stood. Bambule, who had tallied only five minutes of action, sunk the shot, and gave her team a 82-81 lead.
“As soon as I saw Dyaisha go in, I knew right in that second I was going to get that shot,” Bambule said of her game-winning shot. “I knew that was going in. It was just like a practice shot. I knew that was money.”
“[The play] was for me to drive to the basket and score, but we put Kaylee in the corner for her to hit the three and I knew she was going to hit it so I felt confident in giving her the ball,” Hooks said. “She’s a knockdown shooter.”
A missed layup and defensive rebound (and last-second score from Hooks for good measure) later, and the Bobcats (7-4, 5-3 MAC) secured the improbable victory.
Ohio will have some downtime until their next game, when they hit the road to face the Western Michigan Broncos on January 23.
TIP-INS
The Bobcats struggled from the tip to contain the size on the Bulls’ roster, and Buffalo players like Elea Gaba, (6’3”), Zena Elias (6’3”) and Adebola Adeyeye (6’2”) made an impact early, as the trio combined for ten points, eight rebounds and a block in the first quarter of action, working the offensive glass and getting easy looks as a result. The Bobcats trailed 22-15 after one quarter in a true game of runs.
The Bobcats made their own run in the second quarter, led by CeCe Hooks. Hooks’ second quarter included nine points, an assist and three steals, one of which resulted in an open layup that tied the game at 38 with little time left before half. Hooks spent the whole game collapsing the defense, and made plays that went beyond the single assist, as Bobcats were sent to the line on multiple occasions off of Hooks’ passes. The senior didn’t slow down from there, finishing with 28 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and six steals.
It was a historic night for Hooks, who not only got to enjoy a hard fought victory, but moved into second all-time in scoring for Ohio’s Women’s Basketball Team.
“Her legacy is going to be incredible,” Boldon said. “This is a kid that has done so many things for our program, and she was fantastic tonight, but whenever it is that she leaves you’re gonna look back and there’s going to be a lot of games where she had a steal late and we won, or she had 28 against this team, or 35 against this team, she has the school single game scoring record against Akron, there’s just a number of them.”
Hooks was joined in double figures scoring by Erica Johnson, who had 18, Gabby Burris, who had 15 and a team-high eight rebounds, and Madi Mace, who finished with 13.
“We’ve been having a hard time playing as a team at times, but I feel like now, after these couple games everybody is starting to give us something,” Hooks said.