Sports
Women’s basketball: ‘Cats moving forward after bad loss
By: Kyrstin Ratliff
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A 68-65 loss at Kent State on Saturday leaves the Ohio women’s basketball team sitting at .500 (8-8, 1-1 MAC), missing an opportunity to conquer a feat that they haven’t acomplished in the past decade – start the season 2-0 in the MAC.
“It was a tough loss for our team. It would’ve been a great opportunity to be able to go in to conference play 2-0,” Ohio head coach Semeka Randall said.
Kent State had lost eight straight games and was just 1-10 entering play with Ohio this past Saturday. The 'Cats also missed a chance to win their ninth game of 2011-12, which would have matched last season's win total. The Bobcats finished last year's campaign 9-22.
Despite the significant loss against the Golden Flashes, the Bobcats remain positive. Rather than dwelling on the past, the team is focusing on moving forward and preparing for their upcoming games.
The players and coaches watched film from the Kent State game in hopes to learn from their mistakes. “I think it was great to see where we are and some things that we need to work on. I think sometimes when we are winning, you don’t see the glitches you may have or the improvements that you need to make,” senior guard Tenishia Benson said.
When asked about the biggest challenge to come, Benson answered: “The rest of the season, because we are much better than we were last year. We have a lot of expectations.”
“We are still the underdogs so it gives us room to grow,” she continued.
Junior guard Ashley Fowler takes a similar approach to the loss against Kent State.
“We still have a lot of games left in the MAC,” Fowler said.
With an upcoming road game at Bowling Green (12-3, 2-0 MAC) – a team that the Bobcats have not beat since 2008 – the team has a difficult schedule to prepare for. In reference to her motivation for these upcoming games, Fowler remarked, “Working hard every day in practice. Just come to practice willing to get better.”
“We have three really tough games ahead,” Randall said.
The brutal road ahead includes the game against Bowling Green and home games against Miami (12-3, 2-0 MAC) and Akron (6-10, 0-2 MAC).
Looking ahead, Benson describes the goal of this Ohio team.
“We have to find a way to win," Benson said. "Despite refs, despite fans, despite the circumstances that games can present. We have to learn how to win.”
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