ATHENS, Ohio -- The Western Michigan women's basketball team battled back-and-forth with Ohio, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) East leaders, but the Bobcats came away with an 80-67 win at the Convocation Center Wednesday night. Ohio entered this game as the No. 9 ranked team in the College Insider Mid-Major Madness Coaches Poll and were picked to repeat as MAC East Champions in the preseason coaches' poll.
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The first quarter featured six lead changes, with the Broncos (14-5, 5-3 MAC) taking a 21-20 lead into the second quarter. Ohio (15-4, 6-2 MAC) was on fire in the second quarter however, connecting on seven 3-pointers to outscore WMU 27-10 in the quarter. The Bobcats used a 21-1 run to end the first half and led 47-31 going into the break and never trailed in the game again. WMU fought back in the second half, outscoring Ohio 24-14 in the third quarter and trailing by six on several occasions in the fourth quarter. Ohio was able to ice the game away at the free-throw line, where the team went 8-for-10 in the fourth quarter alone.
Sophomore Breanna Mobley finished with her ninth double-double of the season, tying for the team lead in points with 18 and grabbing 10 rebounds. She went 8-for-10 from the floor, but fouled out with 7:00 to play in the game. Senior Meredith Shipman finished with 18 points and hit four 3-pointers while sophomore Deja Wimby finished with nine points and four assists and junior Najee Smith scored seven.
Ohio finished 13-for-31 from beyond the arc, while the Broncos went 6-for-15. WMU won the rebounding battle 33-31, but the Bobcats outshot the Broncos 49.1 percent to 42.3 percent. The Broncos came in to this game as the MAC's leader in steals and finished with eight. Seven different players hit a 3-pointer for the Bobcats, including Katie Barker who made six. Ohio got a huge lift from its bench, where those players accounted for 40 of the team's 80 points.
The Broncos will return home and face Buffalo on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. before taking the midweek off for the team's bye.
