Sports
Huge Third Quarter pushes unbeaten Ohio past Coppin State
By: Michael Roth
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When the unbeaten Ohio Bobcats welcomed winless Coppin State to the Convocation center on Saturday, most expected a comfortable Bobcats victory. Ohio was coming off a huge win over Purdue earlier in the week, that was also their first win by single digits all season.
The Bobcats (7-0) ran away with a 87-62 victory over the Eagles (0-6) at the Convo, but the final score doesn’t give the Eagles justice for their gritty performance.
However, in the first half you weren’t able to tell who was unbeaten and who was winless. Ohio struggled from the floor, shooting 32% from the floor and 27% from behind the arc. These struggles led to only 30 first half points, tied for their lowest total of the season.
Ohio took over two minutes of game time to even get on the scoreboard, and never really got into a rhythm offensively all half.
Coppin State had their share of troubles as well in the opening 20 minutes, the Eagles had 18 turnovers but Ohio only scored 12 points off of these miscues. Coppin State actually found success when they got shots up at the hoop, the Eagles hit 50% of their first half shots to keep them within four points at halftime.
Amani Burke was one of only a few bright spots of the first half, she led the Bobcats with 10 points, just one day after being in a preventative walking boot. Burke wouldn’t just stop in the first half though, she finished the night with 18 points, second on the team. However, the team wasn’t surprised that she was able to come through today.
“Amani practiced yesterday, she’s a division one athlete, she’s a junior.” Ohio Head Coach Bob Bolden said.
Kendall Jessing added nine first half points, and finished with a career high 14 points. The senior didn’t get a lot of playing time early in her career, but is now making the most of her time on the court.
“I was on a really good team my first two years so my mindset is important for the team now,” Jessing said. “I try and be a positive influence and help keep their (underclassmen) spirits up.”
The first half might not have been what Bobcat fans were hoping for, but they made up for it in a huge way in the third quarter. After only scoring 30 first half points the Bobcats exploded for 34 points in the third quarter alone.
“I think collectively once we got it going we looked like a good team,” Bolden said. “However you can’t play only one good quarter of basketball in our league and win.”
Cece Hooks got her first field goal of the game 15 seconds into the second half, but was held in check all night. Hooks only scored seven points on 2-8 shooting and pitched in a game high six assists.
Hooks layup to open up the second half sparked a 15-2 run for the Bobcats to bring their lead to 17 points. Gabby Burris, who led the Bobcats in scoring had eight points during this run to put the game out of reach.
Coppin State was led offensively by Brooke Fields, she finished the game with 26 points and made 4-6 3-pointers. Fields was pressured all day by the Bobcats defense, forcing her into nine turnovers, the Eagles as a team finished with 31.
The Bobcats made four 3-pointers in the third quarter to match the total they had in the entire first half, Burris had two of those makes.
Dominique Doseck had three, 3-pointers to lead the Bobcats from the outside. The senior finished the game with 10 points and two assists.
In the fourth quarter the Bobcats got outscored by the Eagles 24-23, but the game was out of reach by this point. Kaylee Bambule had all eight of her points in the final 10 minutes of action. But it was disappointing to not see the Bobcats extend their lead.
“We aren’t a finished product yet and I know we can still get better.” Jessing said.
With this victory the Bobcats are now 7-0 on the season, they won’t return to the Convo until after the new year when Central Michigan travels to Athens for the Bobcats conference home opener.