Senior guard Symone Lyles snatched the rebound with time waning in overtime, and from there she dished the ball up court to Mariah Byard who found Lexie Baldwin for the layup and the victory.
Ohio’s 76-74 victory against the Division II Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals in an exhibition game Thursday night in The Convo was too close for comfort.
“I knew this was going to be a really, really tough game for us, in the sense that they were going to have more fans than we had,” said Ohio coach Semeka Randall. “They brought their whole town and community out to see them play.”
Wheeling Jesuit called its final timeout with 13 seconds remaining in regulation, trailing Ohio 66-64. Freshman guard Jaila Bryant tied the game on a layup, which forced overtime.
Ohio secured a 72-69 lead after senior guard Ashely Fowler sank two free throws with 3:20 remaining in overtime. But Cardinals’ sophomore forward Kelsey Pacholke connected on a jumper from the elbow to cut Ohio’s lead down to 72-71.
A few possessions later, Lyles drove the lane and scored on a layup to push Ohio’s lead to 74-71 with 1:33 remaining in the game.
Wheeling Jesuit would not go away as Pacholke converted on an and-one play, which tied the game up at 74 with one minute remaining.
The game remained tied until the closing seconds when Baldwin hit the layup with just a few ticks remaining, giving the Bobcats the 76-74 win.
“I don’t even know if she realized she made the big play at the end of the game,” said Randall. “It’s always fun to see a freshman do something like that.”
Ohio got the win, but it did not come as expected against a Division II opponent. Ohio’s perimeter defense struggled because the Bobcats had only eight players available due to injuries.
Regardless, the Bobcats were supposed to handily beat the Cardinals, not win by two in overtime.
“We got a win, but it’s not the kind of win that I would’ve liked for in terms of an exhibition game,” said Randall. “But, I think we’ll learn a lot from this; we have got to get ready for Cleveland State.”
Wheeling Jesuit shot 47 percent from the field in the game, and 42 percent from beyond the arc.
“They played outside the three point line the whole time, we needed to make them drive to the basket,” said Ohio sophomore guard Mariah Byard. “That was one of our keys before the game, but we didn’t do it.”
jm296009@ohiou.edu
