Gabi Bird provides spark, hits game winner to lead Chippewas over Ohio
Central Michigan forward Gabrielle Bird shoots a pull-up jumper against Iona Dec. 5 at McGuirk Arena.
Central Michigan found itself down just a point, 71-70, with 10 seconds to play.
In a game filled with ebbs and flows, ups and downs, first-year coach Heather Oesterle called a time out to advance the inbound pass to half court. It gave her team a shorter area to work with.
After trailing by as many as 13 in the first half, the Chippewas were one more clutch shot away from a victory.
Oesterle knew exactly where to go with the ball.
To that point in the game against Ohio, senior forward Gabi Bird had scored 14 points on four made 3-pointers.
After taking a look at Ohio's defensive alignment, Oesterle changed her mind on her initial play call. With the Bobcats focusing on junior guard Micaela Kelly, Oesterle called a play for Bird.
"We saw they were sagging off of her a little bit at the end," Oesterle said. "We were going to go to (Kelly) initially and then I was like, 'Alright let’s make them pay for sagging off.'"
Bird did exactly that. The senior sank a triple with seven seconds remaining, propelling the Chippewas (9-4, 2-0) to a 73-71 road Mid-American Conference victory over the Bobcats (8-5, 1-1).
Coming in, the match up was billed as a clash of the titans, with both squads labeled to win their respective divisions within the conference.
It didn't start that way, however, as the Chippewas struggled from the field early and trailed 24-12 after the opening quarter.
However, led by Bird, CMU began to claw its way back into the contest. After Ohio pushed its lead to 30-17, Central Michigan reeled off an 18-4 run to take a 35-34 lead into the break. Bird had eight of those 18 points, including back-to-back triples to cut the lead from seven to just a single point.
"(Bird's) hit big shots in the last few games," Oesterle said. "She’s a senior and she wants it. I couldn’t be more happy for her and the entire team."
Ohio was far from done, beginning the third quarter on a 6-0 spurt of its own.
In response, Kelly, who has been named MAC West Division Player of the Week four weeks in a row, and Bird went back-to-back from beyond the arc to put the Chippewas up, 50-45 later in the quarter.
Bird hit her fourth triple of the contest to break a 60-60 tie midway through the fourth quarter, and junior guard Maddy Watters hit a triple of her own to push the Chippewa lead to four points following a layup by Ohio's Cierra Hooks.
Hooks hit back-to-back layups to tie the game at 66 with 2:49 to play, but Kelly gave the Chippewas the lead with a layup as the clock ticked under a minute.
The Detroit native finished with 21 points. However, her 3-point attempt was blocked with 30 seconds remaining, and Ohio's Erica Johnson converted a 3-point play with :24 left to put her team up a single point.
Freshman guard Molly Davis was fouled and sunk a pair of free throws to once again put the Chippewas in front by a point. The freshman scored 11 points to go along with eight rebounds and eight assists.
After Johnson scored again to regain a one-point advantage for the Bobcats, Oesterle called time out. Davis inbounded the ball to Bird, who simply squared herself to the basket and sank the game-winning triple.
Johnson, who finished with 17 points, saw her runner rim out as the clock ticked to zero, sealing the Chippewa victory. Hooks scored a game-high 22 for the Bobcats.
Bird, meanwhile, finished with 17 points and a career-high in minutes with 35. She also notched her first career double-double, collecting 11 boards. Junior forward Kyra Bussell also notched 10 points.
The Chippewas welcome Miami (Ohio) (8-6, 1-1 MAC) for their home conference opener at 2 p.m. Saturday in McGuirk Arena.
