Sports
Ohio Women’s Basketball holds off late Kent State rally to win, 71-61
By: Marc Goldstein
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Ohio head coach Bob Boldon called his team together while his opponent was shooting free throws about midway through the fourth quarter. Boldon watched as Ohio (15-9, 9-4 MAC) had its once-24 point lead shrink down to as little as six points against Kent State (11-13, 5-7 MAC). As he brought his players together, he had a simple message: breathe. He implored his team to settle down and do what made them so successful all game and season long. His message was received by his team. When he spoke to his team, the score was 63-58, Ohio. The final score ended up being 71-61, Ohio, as it held on for the victory.
The game started off very well for Ohio offensively. Although it allowed a quick score by Kent State off the jump ball, Ohio got into its halfcourt offense, splashing home a three by Elli Garnett. That triple was answered quickly by Anna Campanelli, who made it 5-3, Kent State early in the game. That would be the last time Kent State led. Bella Ranallo made a three for Ohio on the next possession to kickstart a 17-3 run that allowed Ohio to sprint out to a 20-8 lead. During the run, Ohio made five threes with two apiece coming from Garnett and Ranallo. By the end of the first, Ohio led 27-15 largely due to shooting 7/15 from deep in the quarter.
The defensive pressure for the Bobcats greatly increased in the second. The Golden Flashes simply struggled to find much room on the perimeter and driving into the lane was made difficult with a number of deflections by the Bobcats. Moreover, the Bobcats were able to get out in transition and score some easy points. The second quarter was the great equalizer for the Bobcat offense as it could not maintain the same level of shotmaking. Regardless, the lead would grow due to the fact that the Bobcats only allowed six points during the quarter to make it 44-21 after twenty minutes of play.
The rebounding battle was an area where Ohio was able to truly make Kent State pay. For the majority of its games this season, Ohio has been outrebounded, but that all changed when it snatched 31 boards in the first half, including 15 on the offensive glass compared to just 17 for Kent State.
“Most of the games, we’ve been outrebounded,” said Garnett. “I think we wanted to win a game and outrebound an opponent. At their house, (Kent State) bullied us. Going into today, we were not going to get bullied.”
By halftime, Garnett was already up to 14 points on ⅚ shoot and ⅘ from deep. In the past couple of games, she has become a true stretch forward for Ohio. Considering taking threes is built into what this team wants to do, her ability to make defenses pay from beyond the arc is integral to success this year.
“I’ve been going into more games being confident in my shot,” said Garnett. “If I miss one, I don’t let that stick with me. My teammates were finding me tonight and the ball was going in.”
The second half started for Ohio similar to how the first ended. The shots were not falling at a very high rate. The difference, though, is that the defensive intensity to open the third quarter had decreased, allowing for Kent State to begin whittling away at the lead. Garnett hit another three to make it 47-26, but Ohio would continue to find it more difficult to make shots than in the first quarter. Ranallo got the fastbreak going and took home a layup on her own before dishing it off to Danni Scully for an and-one opportunity, making it 51-27.
From there, Kent State knocked down threes on the next two possessions and its offense began showing signs of sustained life. While Ohio was in the midst of a three-minute drought, Kent State slowly crept closer. An and-one layup by Kent State was followed by an easy layup to make it 57-40, Ohio. A large key for Kent State was employing a full-court press that made life much harder for the Ohio offense. Still, the third quarter ended with Ohio on top 59-41 and in firm control of the game as it embarked on the final ten minutes of play.
Then, the fourth quarter started. The Bobcats made careless turnovers and gave the Golden Flashes runout opportunities. Boldon laments the fact that some of the turnovers by his team came from the press and other passes that gave largely unencumbered lanes for the Golden Flashes to score. After the Golden Flashes scored twice in the first 90 seconds of the quarter, Boldon called a timeout.
Things did not necessarily get much better for the Bobcats following the timeout on the offensive end, but the defense forced a number of missed shots and, if nothing else, halted the run for the Golden Flashes.
Lost in the moment when Boldon called his players over during the free throw attempt was that Garnett had just fouled out to send Kent State to the line. Without its leading scorer on the afternoon, Ohio called upon Bailey Tabeling to step up. Tabeling usually handles much of the scoring for Ohio as its leading scorer this season, but struggled to find her jumpshot.
When her team needed her most, she made two plays to close out the win for Ohio. She hurled a long pass to Scully for a runout layup with just over two minutes left before taking a layup in herself to all but ice the game.
Boldon acknowledges that this type of win is not exactly the most sustainable to win. However, the fact remains that his team won. Ohio responded to adversity when calls were not going its way against an opponent that was eager to take it off its game from a mental standpoint.
“As a staff, we have a responsibility to temper those emotions,” said Boldon. “Sometimes, we want to drive them, but we played some hectic basketball.”
The type of game Ohio played in the second half might not be a recipe for success moving forward, but the response to adversity during the second half certainly was. For Boldon, a coach that has more wins than any other in Ohio history, they all count the same as his teams get closer to March.