Women's Hoops Eyeing Conference Tournament

The multi-domed Branch Ricky Arena is usually not a friendly place to play in. Last Tuesday was not an exception for the Oberlin women's basketball team, who faced the defending conference champion Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops on their home court. Entering the game with a 6-8 record in the NCAC (12-10 overall) Oberlin hoped to knock off the top-ranked Battling Bishops and gain seeding momentum for the upcoming conference tournament. Unfortunately, Ohio Wesleyan wasn't very cooperative, handing Oberlin a 66-46 defeat and clinching the title of regular season conference champions for the second consecutive year.

The Battling Bishops started the game out strong, breaking out to a 13-4 lead 6 minutes into the game. It wasn't until 12:26 remained in the first half that Oberlin woke up and began to battle back. Spurred by a basket each from the junior post sisters Rachel and Heather Barbee, Oberlin answered with a 14-9 run of their own, cutting the Ohio Wesleyan lead to four (22-18) with 2:37 remaining in the half. With a darting layup along the right baseline by sophomore point guard Nzinga Broussard with 23 seconds remaining in the half, Oberlin looked to keep the Ohio Wesleyan lead to four. A layup by Bishop post Tracy Jo Erdman with five seconds remaining gave Ohio Wesleyan a six point half-time lead.

When asked about the play of her team, Broussard said, "Of our more recent games, this was one our better efforts. Our intensity and defense were pretty good, but we ran into some offensive problems." Rachel Barbee echoes Broussard, who said, "We never gave up, and our guards had an excellent defensive game, but our shots just weren't falling." In the first half, Oberlin were an ice-cold 9-38 from the field, and ended the game shooting only 29% from the floor.

Ohio Wesleyan started the second half strong as well, going on an 8-2 run behind a pair of three point jump shots to break out to a 34-22 lead. After a timeout two minutes into the half, Broussard answered with a jumper in the lane and Oberlin started to play again. Over the next six minutes the Oberlin played Ohio Wesleyan even, scoring ten points to the Bishops' ten points. It became a very aggressive, physical game, with neither side looking to cave in. Rachel Barbee (who ended the game with a mild concussion and tied her sister for a team-leading seven rebounds) explained the physicality of the game and commended her teammates: "It was a very physical game, and both teams played very aggressively. Even though we were down by about 15 points, we never gave up and we played very hard."

Then foul trouble began to plague Oberlin. Over the next four minutes, the officials rewarded Rachel Barbee three fouls for her aggressive play, while her sister Heather and first-year guard Malisha Richardson also picked up a foul. Ohio Wesleyan converted only 3 of 6 fouls shots, however, and Oberlin still only trailed by 14 points. Oberlin then held Ohio Wesleyan the next five minutes without a field goal, but was still plagued by foul trouble. By shooting 6 or 8 from the foul line, Ohio Wesleyan managed to increase their lead by two points, and lead 58-44 with 4:37 remaining in the game. The Bishops refused to relinquish the lead, and although the game was largely one that the Bishops had played with a 10 to 15 point cushion, the final lights on the scoreboard reflected only a 20 point Oberlin defeat, shining 66-46.

Cheap shot: First-year Hannah Weinberg takes one from the charity stripe at a recent practice. Oberlin is struggling to get back to .500 in the NCAC. (photo by Lindsay Sharp)