Women beat NIU 85-79. Johnson 32 pts, three other starters in double figures, Beck 9 points off the bench.

This may be getting way ahead of things, but does anyone else think Erica has WNBA potential?

She does have sort of a "WNBA look" to her game. Her versatility is a plus, since she can handle well enough to play point as well as shooting guard. That floater/teardrop shot she continues to develop can defeat a lot of bigs, and her high-arcing threes are not only accurate, but hard to block. Best of all from a pro standpoint, she's an efficient scorer. CMU's Presley Hudson and Buffalo's Cierra Dillard were great MAC players who both got training camp looks last year, but they were both cut, in part because they were seen as volume shooters. If you need to take 20 shots to get 20 points, you're not going to make a WNBA team. Johnson got 32 on just 16 shot attempts last night, which is about as productive as it gets.

Minuses may be that she's on the wrong side of 6' tall, has an injury history, and plays for a mid-major. Very few MAC players have been drafted by the league, and I think only two have made it onto a regular season roster. There are only 144 roster spots in the entire league, and most of those are of course taken by veterans.

If she thinks she has a shot, she might be well served by exploring a graduate transfer option to a P5 school after next season. Proving you can do it at that level would attract more attention than another dominant season in the MAC.

Solid home win today by the women over BGSU. Everyone had a good game. Only negative was a stretch in the second quarter where the defense was lackadaisical. Coach Bolden brought that to their attention, shall we say.

Home game against Akron tonight. Massey has the Bobcats with an 86% chance of winning, predicted score 75-63. But the Zips are a very experienced team, with five seniors, four of whom start. Ohio will be outsized in the post (as always), as Akron starts 6'2" Haliegh Reinoehl together with 6'1" Caitlyn Vari. Reinoehl is a good 3-point shooter, as is guard Shayna Harmon. The rest of the Zips have not shot the three well in MAC play, but Ohio has not defended it well, giving up an average of 11 made threes in conference. Last season, Akron guard Alyssa Clay came off the bench to score 25 in the Convo, including 5-6 from three. This could be a game if she repeats that performance tonight.

Foul trouble was a big issue in the first half especially but throughout the game really. Amani Burke had her best game in a while. Freshman Peyton Guice got extended minutes because of the foul trouble and scored eight points. Now it's the big rematch with Central Michigan on Saturday in Mount Pleasant. Chippewas are still undefeated in the MAC after beating Buffalo in double OT last night.

Anybody have any idea what words were exchanged between the players on that double technical? Erica is usually pretty level-headed. I'm guessing the other player said something off-the-wall to her, and she reacted out of character. On the replay, I really didn't see them saying anything. Didn't really see their lips move. Must have been kind of under the breath kind of thing, unless I totally missed it.

All I saw was a staredown from Erica.

Bobcats lose in OT at Mt. Pleasant, 92-90. Ohio played without Amani Burke, who did not make the trip due to a death in the family. Caitlyn Kroll started in her place. Erica Johnson came off the bench - Deesh Beck started for her. Ohio did a lot of things right, but CMU outshot them by a ton - 39-64 (60.9%) vs. the Bobcats' 36-86 (41.9%).

Halfway through conference play, it's hard to see a path for Ohio to win the conference. They are three full games behind CMU, plus the Chips hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. The battle may already be for the second place bye.

Hmm . . . I would say that CMU matches up pretty well athletically with Ohio. In fact, I would say they are the cream of the crop in the MAC, and the team that everyone else measures themselves by.

Saturday against Kent State will be a big one. A Kent win would put both teams at four losses in MAC play. An Ohio win give the Bobcats a 2 1/2 game lead.

Good time for a bye week after Ohio survived Kent 63-57. In the first half, the Flashes were able to run their offense, shot 50%, and took a 37-31 lead into the break. But the Bobcats rediscovered their most potent offensive weapon in the second half - points off turnovers. Steals not only put points on the board, but disrupted Kent's offensive rhythm - they were just 9-31 in the half.

Hopefully the break will get Amani Burke back on track. After making her first shot of the game, she missed her last nine -- many of them bad misses on layup attempts. I don't think Ohio will get very far without her return to double digit scoring form.

Big bounceback game for the bench. Peyton Guice with 9 points, Caitlyn Kroll with 7, and Deesh Beck with 3 fouls in 5 minutes. OK, a bounceback for two out of three.