After an eye-opening overtime win against Wheeling Jesuit in an exhibition game, Ohio started the regular season with a 63-56 victory against the Cleveland State Vikings.
Junior guard Shavon Robinson shot 50 percent from the field for a 15-point effort. Sophomore guard Mariah Byard and senior forward Tina Fisher chipped in 13 and 10 points, respectively.
“I’ve got to give credit to my vets who started the game; they set the tempo,” said Ohio coach Semeka Randall.
The veterans swung the game in Ohio’s favor with about 12 minutes left. But, it was a freshman who sparked the scoring run.
Forward Lexie Baldwin hit a three-pointer in transition with 12:37 left in the second half. The basket cut the Cleveland State lead to 41-37.
The basket was crucial, but it’s not a usual aspect of Baldwin’s game.
“We were all sitting there saying ‘No!’ but then it goes down, and makes us all look good,” Randall said.
Fisher hit a layup to make the score 41-39. Baldwin stepped up again and converted on a tough layup to tie the game at 41.
From there, Ohio’s veterans took control. Robinson drove to the basket and laid it in to make the score 43-42 with 10:23, the first lead for Ohio since a 28-27 lead with 2:44 remaining in the first stanza.
Byard sank a three-pointer 40 seconds later to give Ohio a 46-42 lead and the momentum.
Ohio’s cushion allowed the Bobcats to avoid a scare when the Vikings got within three points with less than a minute remaining.
Vikings senior forward Shalonda Winton poured in 24 points and 15 rebounds.
“We knew coming in that it was tough match up,” said Randall. “I think one of the biggest things was that we kept (Winton) off the free-throw line. That’s where she has scored her points. … Tonight we held her to three free-throws, so that was huge.”
Although Winton filled the stat sheet, Ohio executed the game plan of hassling her and making her uncomfortable.
“We just made her take tough shots, because the go-to player is going to get shots off, but we just made her take tough shots,” Robinson said.
The Bobcats committed 23 turnovers, a stat Randall does not like to see in the post-game box score.
“We’ve got to lower our turnovers — that’s embarrassing to have 23 turnovers,” Randall said. “But I’ve got to give them a lot of credit for their effort.”
Ohio won its first season opener since 2008, the season after a concerning, close win against a Division II opponent in an exhibition game.
“For us to pull out this win, it means a lot,” Robinson said. “It will definitely hit us tomorrow in our off day; we’ll realize this was a really great win for us.”
jm296009@ohiou.edu
