The Bobcats are in need of a little luck.
In the midst a three-game losing skid, Ohio now will face the challenge of playing Bowling Green — the Mid-American Conference East Division leaders.
“I expect a great challenge,” coach Bob Boldon said. “Bowling Green is very, very good. I expect (the Bobcats) to try as hard as they can. Whether we’ve won or lost our previous game, it doesn’t affect how hard we play the next game.”
One of the key things Boldon noticed in film was the amount of ball screens the Falcons run.
“They run a bunch of ball screens,” Boldon continued. “We’ve guarded some ball screens but not to the extent that we’ll have to guard them tomorrow night. It’ll be a good challenge for a young team to see how they handle it.”
Bowling Green also like to shoot the ball around the perimeter, and as a team, it shoots 34 percent from downtown. Deborah Hoekstra, a junior guard, is the Falcons’ main threat from behind the arc, burying 42 percent of all her three-point field goals.
In comparison, the Bobcats shoot 29 percent from beyond the arc, and sophomore guard Kiyanna Black is connecting on the same percentage of her three-point shots, despite leading the team with 13 points per game. However, she’s averaging 24 points per game in The Convo.
Because Ohio’s opponents are outscoring the Bobcats by an average of more than four points per game, Boldon stressed better ball control and defense as keys for the contest.
“After watching film, (we saw) they were good shooters,” freshman guard Quiera Lampkins said. “We’ve just got to play good defense. I think as a team, if we play hard together in the first half and play good defense into the second half, we have a good chance.”
Bowling Green’s leading scorer is redshirt senior forward Alexis Rodgers, who averages 14 points per game to go along with eight rebounds.
In seven of Ohio’s eight wins, the Bobcats have scored at least 70 points and have not lost a game when reaching that point total.
“We’ve got to knock down shots,” Lampkins said. “If we beat (Bowling Green), then everyone will say, ‘Oh, Ohio’s not that bad.’ ”
@charliehatch_
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