Lady Bulldogs win the TVC-Ohio after dominant defensive showing
By: Donovan Varney
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THE PLAINS, Ohio (WOUB) — The Nelsonville-York Lady Buckeyes (7-14, 4-7 TVC-Ohio) traveled down the road to face their neighbors, the Athens Lady Bulldogs (16-4, 10-1 TVC-Ohio), for the final time this season. With a share of the conference title already clinched, Athens secured the crown outright with a 62-40 victory on Thursday.
As the lone senior on the Lady Bulldog squad, Asa Holcombe opened the game the only way she could, with a three-pointer. Quickly, it became a competition. Both teams started spraying from beyond the arch, and ended up combining for six threes in the quarter alone.
Despite shooting it well, Nelsonville-York struggled with holding on to the ball. The Lady Buckeyes amassed six turnovers in the first quarter and were out-rebounded significantly. By the end of the quarter Athens had a 19-12 lead.
Things stayed much of the same into the second quarter. The Athens defense was suffocating Nelsonville-York’s offense. They forced four turnovers in this quarter, bringing their total to ten at half.
Lex Koopal continued to give the Lady Bulldogs second chances with her rebounding ability. The Athens center had 8 points at half, almost all of them off of an offensive rebound. While Brystol Stump added 15.
Madi Pidcock and Alayna Okulich kept the Lady Buckeyes offense alive with some momentum boosting buckets. At halftime, Athens was up double-digits, 39-23.
Nelsonville-York Head Coach Mark Truax thought that Athens’ work on the boards put his team behind.
“What killed us tonight was rebounding… I felt like that was the factor,” Truax said. “They had 12 offensive rebounds in the first half.”
Out of the half, the Lady Buckeyes still couldn’t find a solution for the rebounding issue. In one possession alone, Athens grabbed seven offensive rebounds. That’s seven additional chances to put points on the board.
The Lady Bulldogs outscored Nelsonville-York 16-5 in the third quarter, giving them a 55-28 lead.
Despite getting some momentum in the fourth behind two three-pointers from Megan Booth, the Bulldogs secured their second straight TVC-Ohio.
Coach Truax said that with the regular season at a close, it’s time to focus on the playoffs.
“Now, it’s go time. We’ll take the week and prepare for Ripley, that’s who we got in the tournament,” Truax said. “I feel like we match up well with them.”
The Lady Buckeyes have an 11-seed in the tournament and will travel two and a half hours to face the 6-seed Ripley next Thursday.