Sports
Ohio Women’s Basketball: 2019-20 Schedule Released, ‘Cats face four Power Five opponents
By: Bryan Kurp
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ATHENS, Ohio – Last season, the Ohio women’s basketball team finished with 30 wins and was a MAC Tournament finalist. However, the Bobcats did not make the NCAA Tournament. One of the reasons Ohio was left out was its strength of schedule. Ohio’s 2019-20 schedule was released Wednesday, and it features four Power Five teams and five teams that made NCAA Tournament appearances last season.
“I am not sure that we are good enough to play in the NCAA Tournament, but we wanted to give our players a chance to earn their way into the tournament with a challenging non-conference schedule,” head coach Bob Boldon said in a statement to ohiobobcats.com.
The Bobcats open the regular season on Tuesday, Nov. 5 with a trip to Syracuse to face the Orange – the 2019 ACC Tournament finalists. Syracuse also advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season and finished ranked No. 10 in the RPI.
Ohio’s first regular season home game will be on Nov. 10 against American. The Bobcats defeated American on the road last season, 77-67. Ohio will also welcome Marshall to The Convo on Nov. 13.
The Bobcats will travel to Columbus on Sunday, Nov. 17 to face Ohio State. Last season, the Buckeyes were 14-15 overall.
Ohio returns home to face Incarnate Word on Nov. 23 for the first time in program history.
The following weekend, the Bobcats will participate in the Daytona Beach Invitational on Nov. 29 and Nov. 30. The opponents will be announced at a later date.
The Bobcats will return home on Dec. 7 to face IUPUI. Ohio defeated the Jaguars 73-66 on the road last season in a close game.
Ohio will travel to Texas for two games against Power Five opponents – the Bobcats will face TCU on Dec. 15 and Texas on Dec. 18. Texas was in the NCAA Tournament last season and TCU was in the WNIT semifinals.
The Bobcats will wrap up non-conference play on Dec. 29 with a trip to Chattanooga.
Ohio opens MAC play with two home games – the Bobcats will host Northern Illinois on Jan. 4 and Central Michigan on Jan. 8. The Bobcats will then travel to Buffalo on Jan. 11 and Western Michigan on Jan. 15 before finishing January with two home games against Bowling Green (Jan. 25) and Akron (Jan. 29).
Ohio opens February with two road games at Central Michigan on Feb. 1 and Eastern Michigan on Feb. 5. After a home game against Kent State on Feb. 8, the Bobcats will travel to Miami on Feb. 15 for “The Battle of the Bricks”. Ohio closes out February with a home game against Toledo on Feb. 19, two road games against Akron (Feb. 22) and Bowling Green (Feb. 26) and a home meeting with Buffalo on Feb. 29
The Bobcats will travel to Kent State on March 4 and will wrap up regular season play on March 7 at home against Miami.
The 2020 MAC Tournament will begin on Monday, March 9 with on-campus games. The Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse will host games on March 11, 13 and 14.