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’Hawks blown out by Bobcats

By Daniel Taylor, For The Miami Student

The Miami University RedHawks were flying high coming into the rivalry game against Ohio University. But that ended quickly after Ohio (20-3, 11-1 Mid-American Conference) dominated Miami (4-19, 1-11 MAC), 67-45.

The RedHawks proved no match for the MAC East leaders. Ohio got off to an early 21-6 lead with 8:37 to go in the first half and that would be par for the game.

The Red and White climbed to within five, but sophomore guard Quiera Lampkins took over. She pushed the lead back to 10 at the half after a late seven point scoring burst.

"We had a really good effort on the defensive end," head coach Cleve Wright said. "We struggled on the offensive end."

He was pleased with the first half play and said that had a few shots dropped for Miami, it may have been a different story at half.

However, the 10 point deficit would quickly grow for Miami in the early minutes of the second half.

Junior guard Kiyanna Black, the Bobcats leading scorer, had zero in the first. She hit two back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back to 12. That ended Miami's run and killed all momentum.

"I don't think we responded well," Wright said. "We need to mature as a team."

Miami was able to keep it within 15 until the nine minute mark.

Redshirt junior guard Kat Yelle banked a layup home and Ohio turned that into a 9-2 run, pushing the lead to 24 and sticking the dagger into Miami.

Ohio was able to score 25 points off turnovers and added 16 second chance points.

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"I don't know that we responded to the emotion of the game the way I would like us to," Wright said. "We were very quick to put our head down."

One of the bright spots for the RedHawks came from the free throw line. They made it to the charity stripe 17 times, converting on 12 attempts.

Six of the 12 came from freshman guard Baleigh Reid, who went 6 for 8 on the night.

Reid led all scorers with 16 points.

"I'm better at reading defense," Reid said, talking about her progression throughout out season.

The fatal flaw in the game came from the RedHawks shooting percentage. The team went 1 for 14 from deep (7.1 percent), and shot only 32 percent from the field.

After the defeat, the RedHawks have a shorter than usual break before the next game.

Eastern Michigan University comes to Millett Hall Tuesday night. The game is a reschedule from an earlier game.

The Eagles (12-10, 5-6 MAC) have gone 3-3 since the last meeting with Miami. The Eagles beat the RedHawks 56-38 Jan. 21.

Eastern dominated Central Michigan University on Saturday, 85-64.

Four Eagles were in double figures at the end of the night. Leading scorer, senior guard Jamaica Bucknor, had 24.

"They like to play a lot of zone," Wright said. "We'll have to attack it.