Men’s and Women’s Basketball emerge victorious on Love.Honor.Care Day

Love.Honor.Care Day was a big win for the Miami University Redhawks basketball teams, with both the mens and womens teams emerging victorious in their respective matchups that supported Ride Cincinnati.

The day started with the women's team (8-17, 5-9 in MAC play) taking the court against the Eastern Michigan University Eagles (6-19, 2-12 in MAC play). After losing Wednesday’s game against the University of Toledo Rockets, the RedHawks were sitting in 10th place in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and desperately needed a win with only five games remaining in the season.

The highlight of the game was the return of junior forward Katey Richason, who has missed the past eight games due to injury. In her first game back, she led the team with 14 points and shot 6/9 from the field.

Richason was assisted by nine points from junior guard Cori Lard and eight points from first-year forward Amber Tretter, who also had nine rebounds and five assists.

It was an entirely one-sided game, as the RedHawks took the lead early in the first quarter and didn’t give it up. They shot 18-55 (32.7%) from the field compared to the Eagles’ 13-39 (33.3%), but the RedHawks also dominated in the three-point department, making 6-20 (30%) compared to the Eagles’ 1-12 (1.3%).

With today’s victory, the RedHawks are now at ninth place in the MAC, just one spot below playoff contention. If they can continue this winning streak, Miami may be in the MAC tournament in its first year under head coach Glenn Box.

Following the women’s team victory, the men’s team (13-14, 7-7 in MAC play) faced the Central Michigan Chippewas (16-11, 10-4 in MAC play).

Going into the game, the Chippewas were ranked third in the MAC, coming off a thrilling overtime victory against Bowling Green State University on Tuesday.

The RedHawks, on the other hand, were ranked seventh in the MAC and were returning from a devastating 77-58 loss to Western Michigan University.

The offense was firing on all cylinders, with junior Bradley Dean putting up a season-high 20 points and first-years Reece Potter and Evan Ipsaro putting up 15 points each. Senior Anderson Mirambeaux put up 12 points, five rebounds and a season-high three steals.

Miami was up 46-24 at halftime and kept the lead through the second half, scoring another 42 points to Central Michigan’s 36.

With a record of 13-14, the RedHawks now sit at sixth place. Though their spot in Cleveland isn’t set in stone, beating a top-tier conference opponent should give fans something to look forward to as the season comes to a close next month.