Freshman's record scoring performance helps Bobcats rebound
By Zach Swartz, Staff Writer
January 25, 2007 | 12:08 p.m.
Coming off a depressing loss at home last Saturday, the Ohio University women's varsity basketball team came into the Convocation Center Tuesday night looking to rebound.
Rebounding was the goal, but scoring became the story as the Bobcats defeated the Northern Illinois Huskies 72-70.
Led by freshman Jennifer Bushby's career-high 18 points and spectacular seven-for-seven field goal shooting performance, Ohio came out looking rusty and missing their first five shots from the floor. The Bobcats, however, took control of the game after Northern Illinois' leading scorer, Stephanie Raymond, went out with 16:01 remaining in the first half. Though she would return later in the first half, the Bobcats broke out to a 32-23 lead at halftime.
Bushby opened up the Bobcats' scoring in the second half with a three-pointer, and from then on, she remained lights out.
“I really don't know how it happened," Bushby said. "I missed practice yesterday because I was sick, and today we went around the locker room and we just all had to look each other in the eye and say, ‘I'm going to do my best for us to win tonight.’ That's basically what I wanted to do; I just wanted to come out and give my team my best effort."
Ohio (10-9, 3-4 Mid-American Conference) led considerably in the second half, but that lead evaporated as the Huskies cut it to a three-point lead with 1:31 left in the game. The Huskies (12-6, 4-3 MAC) fought hard, but Bushby's steal with 25 seconds to go and Northern Illinois' missed three-pointer with only five seconds remaining sealed the win for Ohio.
"I think our will to win helped us tonight, and we had an all-out effort by our whole entire team," Coach Sylvia Crawley said. "We looked like a totally different team than the game you saw on Saturday, and I think that's just how much people care for each other on our team."
Though Bushby's perfect shooting lifted the team, sophomore Rachel Frederick also had an impressive performance with 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Sophomore Lauren Kohn put up 13 points and grabbed eight boards, while junior Quintana Ward provided 11 points and four assists.
Northern Illinois was led by senior center Kristin Wiener, who had 21 points and nine rebounds. The Huskies' leading scorer, senior Stephanie Raymond, put up 15 points and dished out 10 assists, despite missing nearly 10 minutes of the first half because of a head injury. However, the Huskies' efforts were not enough to pull off a victory.
Ohio shot 48.2 percent from the field in all, including 33.3 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Defense was also key for the Bobcats, as they recorded nine steals and two blocked shots before the night was done.
"We're just trying to learn from our mistakes and never let another team do the same thing to us," Crawley said. "I'm just proud of the way we pulled the game out tonight."
The Ohio women's basketball team's next game will be this Saturday at Ball State.
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