Sports
Ohio Overcomes Slow First Half to Get Win
By: Kellyanne Stitts
Posted on:
MACtion in the Convocation Center heated up today as the Bobcats took down Eastern Michigan 68-51, improving their record to 14-4 this season after a tough loss to Kent State last weekend but a win over Toledo on Wednesday.
Even though the Bobcats (14-4, 5-2) came out on top, their play in the first half did not show it. The game started off slowly and the Eagles were not trailing too far behind. The Eagles (5-14, 0-7) challenged the ‘Cats through aggressive play. The motto for this game was, “protect the paint,” and by gearing their defense towards EMU’s play by switching to man on man coverage, head coach Bob Boldon was pleased with his defense. ,
“Really tried to protect the paint today,” Boldon said. “You saw how athletic that team is they’re just crazy athletic and I don’t think that we could get up and pressure them and take things away from them, I thought our plan was to try and force tough shots and I thought we did that.”
Boldon and the team’s demeanor completely changed after the first half. The Bobcats came out with energy and locked in, widening the scoring gap. Forward Jasmine Wetherspoon noted the difference after halftime.
“I feel like we definitely moved better in the third quarter,” Weatherspoon said. “It was just our tempo. He (coach) said come out with energy, so that was definitely a big part of the run that we made.”
Weatherspoon led the team in rebounds, totaling 11 for the Bobcats and had eight points, but Quiera Lampkins continued to show how dominant of a basketball player she is. Lampkins led the team in points, putting 22 on the board.
Even though Ohio dominates the Mid-American Conference East division, they still have areas they need to improve on. The Cats’ sit at 38 percent shooting and 21 percent shooting from behind the arc. Defensively they are showing improvement from their previous games but will have to work on their shooting percentage and accuracy to stay on top.
The Bobcats will return to MACtion at the Convocation Center Wednesday, looking for a win against Western Michigan. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.