Sports
Bobcats Overcome Duquesne With Creative Offense
By: Thomas Garverick
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The Bobcats used a strong second half to overcome a slow start to knock off the Duquesne Dukes 64-46 to move to 6-0 on the year. The feisty Dukes, who fall to 4-5, gave the Bobcats all they could handle in this one, as the Bobcats were forced to find new ways to score offensively to come out with the win.
From the looks of the beginning of the game, the Bobcats seemed like they were going to roll the Dukes as they opened up with a 13-3 run, forcing an early Dukes timeout. But then the Dukes defense tightened up, forcing the Bobcats to beat them from beyond the arc, something this team has struggled with in the past.
Ohio Bob Boldon talked about the hot start by his team, but was well aware how good of a team the Dukes are.
“Our kids were really locked in early,” Boldon said. “They set the tone defensively early and we knew what we wanted to do offensively. The 13-3 lead didn’t last as long as we would’ve liked but they are a good team and we knew that heading into the game.”
That trend continued for the Bobcats as they were just 3-of-17 from three in the first half as well as just shooting a pedestrian 32 percent from the floor. What kept the Bobcats in the game offensively was the efforts of guard Quiera Lampkins who scored 17 of her 19 points in the first half, nine of those coming from the free throw line.
But was has been constant for the Bobcats has been there aggressive defense, getting heavily involved in the passing lanes as Jasmine Weatherspoon’s length was wreaking havoc against the Dukes, leading to multiple turnovers that resulted in easy transition buckets.
The Dukes had life though, as sophomore Kadri-Ann Lass kept them in it in the first half, leading the way with 10 points. The second half however, did not treat them so kindly.
The Bobcats once again opened up with a 7-0 run to open the second half and this time the Bobcats kept the foot on the gas to put away the Dukes, outscoring them 22-6 in the third quarter.
The Bobcats were able to find consistency and flow offensively as the 3-ball began to fall for them. Guards Taylor Agler and Dominique Doseck hit four 3-pointers early in the third quarter to spark the Bobcat offense when the Dukes tried to take away the hot hand of Lampkins.
Boldon liked the fact that even though Lampkins was being taken away, she did not press to score.
“Going into the second half we saw a few wrinkles in their zone we could attack and it lead for pretty good looks for us,” he said. “It was nice seeing them take what the defense gave them and Quiera was able to become a distributor in the second half.”
While the Dukes were focused on taking away the Bobcats best scorer, they were unable to get their two star players going on the other end. Guard Chassidy Omogrosso and forward Amadea Szamosi combined for just 11 points and neither of them could really make themselves a real factor in this game.
The second half belonged all to the Bobcats, but there was a scary moment early in the third quarter. Yamonie Jenkins, the team leader in assists per game was injured at the six minute mark of the third quarter as it appeared she hurt her right ankle. However, she returned later in the third quarter of the game and finished with nine points.
The Bobcats now have a week off until they square off next Saturday, Dec. 10 when they take on IUPUI. The Bobcats will be on the road for their next two games, so they will have to take care of business on the road to continue their winning ways.