Furious play marked the first and last couple of minutes for the Ohio University women’s basketball team in Wednesday’s game against UNC-Wilmington at the Convocation Center.
The middle portion of the game, a 56-51 loss, was anything but furious.
The Bobcats (3-2) were able to garnish a 21-10 lead near the midway point in the first half. However, they succumbed to a 17-1 Seahawks run that led to a one-point deficit at the half.
“We’re used to getting up early and practicing, so I thought we would come out with a lot more energy that we didn’t display in the first half,” coach Semeka Randall said.
A 12-2 run highlighted the Bobcats’ second half, but was not enough to improve their record to 4-1 on the season.
Ohio did have an opportunity to tie the game with eight seconds remaining, but Erin Bailes, who led the team with 12 points, missed a three-point opportunity. She was 4-for-9 from long distance on the day.
“Erin got a great look at it, and she hung her head. I told her in the locker room, ‘There’s no point to hanging your head.’ I was really proud of how they played,” Randall said.
Bailes would not have been in the position of trying to send the game to overtime if it weren’t for a lack of connection and thoroughness on the offensive end, where the Bobcats shot just 35 percent.
The Seahawks were able to cash in on 12 fast break opportunities, as opposed to the Bobcats’ four, another weak point for Ohio.
“We kind of did a lot of these things to ourselves, in terms of the layups, the lack of energy," Randall Said. "The not taking care of the basketball, just unforced errors down in the stretch."
Ohio will have the rest of the week to regroup before heading to Pittsburgh Saturday, where they will face off with Duquesne (4-1).
“Obviously, we got to have a quick, ‘let go of this game and get prepared for Duquesne,’ which is a really good basketball team and it will be another huge test for our basketball team,” Randall said.
Behind Bailes, Tina Fisher and Kat Yelle, who both had eight points, led the Bobcats in the scoring column. Fisher also contributed seven rebounds, while Yelle had four assists. Notably, the Bobcats were without top scorers Tenisha Benson and Porsha Harris once again.
UNC-Wilmington’s Alisha Andrews led all scorers with 14 points.
