Sports
Ohio Women’s Basketball drops season opener to Georgia Southern
By: Evan Johnson
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – The wait is officially over, basketball is back in the Convocation Center for the first time since March. Ohio Women’s basketball (0-1) got things kicked off hosting the Georgia Southern Eagles (1-0) but were unable to get the win on opening night falling 82-70.
The game was a part of the Mid-American Conference and Sun Belt Conference challenge. It is the second year in which the challenge took place. Each of the men’s and women’s basketball team in the MAC will open their season facing an opponent from the SBC.
Ohio Head Coach Bob Boldon discussed the MAC-SBC challenge. “It allows for competitive games early on, and it did just that. You are certainly not easing your way into the season. You get challenged early and I think that’s a good thing,” Boldon said.
The Georgia Southern defense started the game off in a defensive zone, in which the Bobcats offense was able to pick apart with quick ball movement. That allowed for open three pointers in which Ohio took advantage of. They drained three shots behind the arc in the first six minutes.
The first quarter ended with Ohio in the lead 21-18. The Eagles were able to find success offensively in the paint. They were too able to put up 14 of those points at the rim. But the duo of Kennedi Watkins and Bailey Tabeling were on fire and combined for 19 points in the first quarter.
“It was trial and error, seeing the different types of ways they were guarding me,” Watkins said. “Basically, reading the defense, just kind of playing freely, and just going with the flow of the game.”
Turnovers soon became a problem for Ohio. The team had ten of them just halfway through the second quarter which allowed Georgia Southern to reclaim the lead. The shooting also went cold for the Bobcats only making one of nine shots behind the arc in the second quarter. The Eagles ended the half up 38-32.
Physicality and size were a strength for Georgia Southern as they dominated the boards throughout the game. As a team they grabbed 24 offensive rebounds on the night.
The Bobcats kept clawing their way back into the game, Watkins caught fire tying her career high in points at 26. But with six minutes left in the final quarter she fouled out of the game with an offensive foul.
There was clear size disadvantage down low as the Eagles dominated at the rim. They ended with night with a total of 42 points in the paint. If they did not get it on the first try, several Eagles would swoop in to grab the board and put it back up.
After some back-and-forth scoring Georgia Southern was able to take advantage of Ohio’s turnovers and go on a 7-0 run to end the game. The Bobcats ended the game with 21 total turnovers. The Eagles won with a final score of 82-70.
Georgia Southern will look to keep the momentum going as they travel back down south to take on North Florida on Nov. 9.
Ohio will look for their first win when they host Bellarmine on Nov. 10.