In a battle of youth versus experience, Akron’s veterans bested Ohio’s young guns as the Bobcats lost their second consecutive Mid-American Conference game.
Early foul trouble put the Bobcats (8-9, 3-3 MAC) behind the eight ball early as the already thin squad of just eight players had trouble with the Zips’ potent offense in an 80-53 loss. Akron (9-8, 3-3 MAC) was in the bonus just six minutes into the game.
Akron senior forward Rachel Tecca, the defending MAC player of the year, and fellow senior guard Hannah Luburgh showed their class early and often. Luburgh had 25 points to lead the way for Akron, while Tecca added 13 points to go along with nine boards.
For the second straight game Ohio couldn’t get anything to work on the offensive end of the floor. The Bobcats were ice cold from behind the arc shooting just eight percent, but needed the three to fall to keep pace with Akron’s high scoring offense.
“We had a tough time scoring the ball,” coach Bob Boldon said. “You couple that with bad defense and you get a blowout which is what we got here tonight.”
Sophomore guard Kat Yelle paced the Bobcats with 14 points — seven of which came from the free throw line. That was one of the few positives for the Bobcats, who shot a season-best 85 percent from the charity stripe. Ohio came into the game as the MAC’s worst from the charity stripe.
A scare for Ohio came during the second half as freshman guard Yamonie Jenkins went down after taking a hard screen from an Akron player. Fortunately for the Bobcats, she came back only a few minutes later.
Ohio will look for sophomore guard Mariah Byard to return soon to help their shooting from outside, an area where they have really struggled without her. It will also give Boldon some added depth, as in one point in the game the Bobcats were down to only six players after Hannah Boesinger and Lexie Baldwin fouled out. Boldon thinks depth isn’t an issue in their recent slump.
“You can only play five at a time. If they start allowing you to play six or seven then it will be an issue. As long as they only let the other team play five we’ll play our five. It tests you mentally a little bit maybe, but if you look at the stats we didn’t have anyone play more than 30 minutes. They had four kids play 30 minutes, so what’s the difference.”
The Bobcats return home this Sunday to take on the Toledo Rockets who are coming off a 73-61 win over Ball State.
ak840511@ohiou.edu
