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MAC champs: Bobcats down Eagles 60-44

Black scores 25; Eastern Michigan shoots just 25 percent


Lonnie McMillan Photo
CLEVELAND - Kiyana Black scored 25 points and Ohio held Eastern Michigan to 25 percent shooting, pulling away in the second half to earn its first Mid-American Conference Tournament championship since 1986 with a 60-44 victory Saturday at Quicken Loans Arena.

It completed a huge turnaround for the Bobcats from MAC doormats to MAC champions in just the second year under coach Bob Boldon. Ohio, also the regular season title winner, set a new school record for wins in a season with a 27-4 record just two years after one of its worst records of 6-23. The Bobcats went just 9-21 last year in Boldon's first season.

"It makes the best seem even better," said Ohio's only senior Mariah Byard. "I thought that we would be here at the beginning of this year. Last year, ask me that question, maybe not. In the preseason of this year, I knew that we could be here. Once we got here, we'd do everything to win this game, and that's what we did."

Ohio finally got its offense going in the second half, while Eastern Michigan, playing its fifth game in six days, got even worse, making just 6-of-31 shots (19 percent) after halftime. It scored only one free throw in the final seven minutes of the game.

After scoring just six points in the first half, Black caught fire and 3-pointer with 15:47 put the Bobcats up for good, 33-30. After a Jamaica Bucknor free throw, Lexie Baldwin got free inside for two points, and then Kat Yelle hit a 3-pointer and a layup to push Ohio's advantage to 40-31.

Each time the Eagles made a push, Black had an answer. She hit 3-pointers at the 9:47, 8:52 and 7:23 marks, with the final one putting the Bobcats up double-digits, 50-40. She also answered a Cha Sweeney 3-pointer with her fifth of the second half to make it 53-43 with 4:25 remaining.

"I just kept on shooting," Black said. "The difference from the first half to the second half was they decided to go in. Once the first one went in, I just kept shooting and they kept falling. That's the best feeling in the world."

Black was 0-for-3 from long range and 2-of-7 overall in the first half with just four points, and the Eagles, behind 16 points from Sweeney, held a 27-25 advantage at the break. But Sweeney and Eastern Michigan were stymied in the second half.

Sweeney, who finished with 24 points, was just 7-of-25 from the field. Her 3-pointer with 7:12 remaining was the last field goal made by the Eagles, whose only point the rest of the way was on a Sweeney free throw with 4:15 remaining.

From there, Ohio was able to run the clock and simply play defense.

"It was nice that we made some shots but I think we won the game at the defensive end," Boldon said. "We had a hard time guarding Sweeney in the first half, but we held them to 17 points in the second half. ... It's nice when KB and Mariah (Byard) make shots. It looks good, but this game was won on the defensive end."

Byard hit four 3-pointers for Ohio, which set a program record, men's or women's, for shots beyond the arc this season. Three of Byard's 3-pointers came in the first half, and Lexie Baldwin also hit a trio of treys before the break to keep the Bobcats in it despite 34.6 percent shooting.

Baldwin finished with 13 points, five rebounds, three steals and three blocks, and Byard scored 12 points with four assists. Quiera Lampkins had only two points, but led the Bobcats with eight rebounds and five assists.

Byard, Baldwin and Sweeney joined MAC Tournament MVP Black on the All-MAC Tournament team.

"We've got a lot of tough kids on our teams but I don't know there's anybody on a basketball team that wants to win a game more than KB," Boldon said. "She's emotional and comes out different ways but it's only because she cares. She puts everything into this team."

Outside of Sweeney, the Eagles got very little offense. Brianna Puni scored seven points for the Eagles, and no one else had more than four.

"We didn't break down their defense," Eastern Michigan coach Tory Verdi said. "We were stagnant. ... We were in a rush. Our shot selection was poor at times. ... It was almost like get Cha the ball and then everyone just stand around and watch. That was frustrating."

As the No. 6 seed in the tournament, the Eagles (22-12) had to win on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in tournament play just to get to the championship game, while the Bobcats had a bye all the way to Friday's semifinal, a victory against Buffalo.

The Eagles did it by playing for the memory of teammate Shannise Heady, who died in a late-January car accident.

"I see these players more than I see my own kids, so when you lose one, it's hard," Verdi said. "But the fact that I have 15 more and have a great coaching staff and we were able to come together and support each other was something special."

Puni scored back-to-back baskets late in the first half to give the Eagles a 23-17 advantage after neither team had a lead of more than three points before. Baldwin hit a big 3-pointer and tied the game with another at the one-minute mark before Sweeney scored to give Eastern Michigan the halftime edge.

The Bobcats recovered to shoot 40.7 percent in the second half and earn their second NCAA Tournament appearance. In addition the 1986, Ohio also danced in 1995 as an at-large selection. Now surprisingly to some, the Bobcats are back 20 years later.

"Everyone put in the work this summer," Byard said. "Everyone was in the gym and that made me want to be in the gym and vise versa. Coach told us the hard work would pay off. We just trusted him and the coaching staff and what they could do.

"We got everyone on board and you see what happened."

The NCAA women's basketball tournament bracket pairings will be released at 7 p.m. Monday on ESPN.

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Photos  (BobcatAttack.com)







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