Sports

[Jack Demmler | WOUB]

Ohio Women’s Basketball falls to Western Michigan 68-57, remains winless in MAC play

By: Jacob Motta
Posted on: Thursday, January 19, 2023

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Ohio women’s basketball (2-14, 0-5) has had a rough start to Mid-American Conference play, and they looked to right their wrongs against the Western Michigan Broncos (8-8, 3-2) Wednesday night.

The first quarter was ridden with miss layups and sloppy turnovers. By the end of the first quarter both teams began to heat up from the three-point line. For the Bobcats, it was Yaya Felder and Abby Garnett knocking down triples. For the Broncos three of their five starters got in on the action from behind the arc.

In the second quarter Lauren Ross began to take over for the Broncos. She scored 12 points including two threes, but it wasn’t enough to give Western Michigan the lead. Caitlyn Kroll knocked down three triples of her own in the second quarter which was enough for the Bobcats to take a one-point lead into halftime, 35-34.

The Broncos made the right adjustments at halftime holding the Bobcats to just four points in the third quarter. They forced turnovers, beat the Bobcats on multiple fast breaks, and forced players to commit fouls leading to easy buckets at the charity stripe. The Broncos then took a commanding 46-39 lead into the final quarter.

Yaya Felder goes for the basket against Western Michigan — Yaya Felder (2) goes for the basket against Western Michigan [Alex Eicher | WOUB]

Ohio’s comeback efforts were just too late in the fourth quarter, and Western Michigan was shooting too well from three. The fatigue set in for the Bobcats and it showed. 18 total turnovers were hard to come back from in the end.

When the clock hit zero Western Michigan was victorious 68-57, handing the Bobcats their fifth-straight conference loss.

“I thought our tempo was good,” head coach Bob Boldon said. “I thought our pace was good, I thought that ball moved well, and our players did a very good job of moving the ball.”

Controlling the tempo and pace of the game is one thing Boldon has engrained into his players’ minds and it’s their goal to control those things every game. They did so in the first half but ultimately struggled to finish in the end.

Yaya Felder led the Bobcats in scoring with 17 points, followed by Jasmine Hale with 13 points. Lauren Ross led the Broncos with 25 points hitting five threes in the game.

The Bobcats head to rival Miami on Saturday still in search for their elusive first conference win.