CLEVELAND — As Amani Burke’s 3-pointer from the left corner bounced off the back rim and time expired in the 72-71 collapse to Northern Illinois, time had officially run out on Ohio.
This season was supposed to be different. The Bobcats badly wanted to redeem this senior class after a disappointing postseason exit a season ago.
But as players from the Bobcats and Huskies fought for the loose rebound off Burke’s miss, the final buzzer sounded. As much as they didn’t want to come to terms with it, the most influential senior class in program history had played its final game.
“It’s unfortunate,” forward Quiera Lampkins said. “But nothing we can do about it now.”
After making the NCAA Tournament as sophomores in 2015, it seemed the senior class of 2017 was the beginning of a new era at Ohio. The Bobcats had gone from perennial basement dwellers to leaders of the Mid-American Conference in one season.
Little did they know, though, that they would never reach that peak again.
With 10 players returning, the Bobcats entered last season’s MAC Tournament as the favorites to return to the field of 64. But they ran into a team they couldn’t figure out.
Buffalo abruptly ended their season in the quarterfinals, defeating Ohio for the third time that season. Despite the massive disappointment, this year’s seniors had one more chance to lead the program to the national stage.
Boldon spoke of having enough time to improve often this season. He saw the outline of a more balanced offense than in years past, but his team never consistently made shots.
He saw blurred visions of a dominant defense that could carry his inconsistent offense at times, but they couldn’t sustain the level of focus necessary to dominate for extended stretches of the season.
Still, Boldon had patience. They would get there eventually.
As the Bobcats built their 22-point lead in Wednesday’s quarterfinal against Northern Illinois, it appeared Boldon’s vision might finally be coming together. The Bobcats rained nine 3-pointers on NIU in the first half, and NIU seemed helpless to respond at the other end.
“You have to give Ohio a lot of credit to start the game,” NIU coach Lisa Carlsen said. “They did a great job of minimizing opportunities we had.”
But the Bobcats never did completely correct their deficiencies. Their fourth quarter collapse rehashed their worst habits: two made field goals and 22 points allowed.
Just when it looked like all of their coach’s teachings had paid off, the Bobcats left him searching for answers to the same questions at the podium.
This time, without any chance to come up with answers until next season.
“One of us is going to leave here a champion,” Boldon said. “The rest of us are going to be losers. We’ll start preparing for next year and try to get better.”
Maybe next year’s team will benefit from the experience they gained in Wednesday’s loss. Maybe they’ll be able to avoid similar mistakes.
But for the seniors who had such a big hand in reshaping this program, they won’t have the chance to learn from their worst moment.
“Obviously we don’t want to go out like this,” Jasmine Weatherspoon said. “But it’s too late. We don’t have a time machine, we can’t change it.”
