Feb. 18, 2006

Final Stats

OXFORD, Ohio - A determined effort finally earned Miami University's women's basketball team (8-16; 3-10 MAC) its just reward Saturday afternoon in Millett Hall, as the RedHawks ended a six-game losing streak by battling past Mid-American Conference East Division rival Ohio University, 60-56.

In a first half defined by defense, neither team was able to establish offensive flow early. Behind two buckets from Eve Pyle (Export, PA/Oakland Catholic) and a defensive effort that held Ohio without a field goal over the first four minutes, Miami seized an early 4-1 advantage that would be reduced to 6-5 by the 13:01 mark. It would be more than six minutes before the next point was scored, as both teams shot under 26.0 percent in the half.

A 3-pointer by the Bobcats' Rachel Frederick finally ended the scoring drought and ignited both offenses, as the teams combined for 24 points over the final six minutes. Miami would trail by as many as three after another Bobcat 3-pointer at 5:35 and lead by as many as three after a Jaclyn Leininger (Winona Lake, IN/Warsaw) jumper at 3:30. Trailing by two points with 15 seconds left in a wild finish to the half, Miami's Sarah Hull (Greenfield, OH/McClain) went to the rack as time expired and knotted the halftime score at 19-19.

The back-and-forth theme carried into the second half with neither team able to separate itself by more than a basket before the first media timeout. Ohio would briefly inch out to a 29-26 edge, but Miami answered with Pyle's second 3-pointer of the night. The Bobcats would continue to threaten, and, at 10:44, a Quintana Ward jumper boosted Ohio to a 39-34 edge and forced a Miami timeout.

Back-to-back fastbreak scores by freshmen Jenna Schone (Pickerington, OH/North) and Ashley Hawkins (Henderson, KY/Henderson County) rallied Miami back within a point, but Ohio came up with a stop on a potential go-ahead possession for the RedHawks and ended the run with an easy bucket in the paint. Down by five points again, Miami stormed back with two buckets from Amber Miller (Vermilion, OH/Vermilion) and a timely 3-pointer by Schone, forcing Ohio to call timeout down 45-43 with 6:26 remaining.

Miami pressed its edge to five points three times over the next four minutes but was unable to put the Bobcats away without a fight. A key Hull jumper with 1:06 remaining pushed Miami's edge out to a game-high six points, but a Simone Redd 3-pointer with two seconds remaining trimmed the gap to three. Schone iced a clutch free throw with one second remaining to preserve the win and end Miami's longest drought since 1999.

The RedHawks were led by Schone's balanced effort of 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Pyle added 11 points and nine rebounds. Miami matched a season-high with 14 steals while committing just 14 turnovers of its own. The loss was the sixth straight for Ohio, which dropped to 7-17 and 4-9 in the MAC.

A television replay of the game will be available at 9 p.m. Sunday on Time Warner Cable's Digital Channel 99 in Cincinnati and Dayton and on Channel 25 in Dayton. After the initial broadcast, the game will be available through Time Warner's On-Demand service on Channel 1111.

Miami returns to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday when it hosts Akron in another important divisional clash.

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