If the season ended Sunday and Bowling Green was able to lock in the No. 1 seed for the Mid-American Conference, its performance against the Bobcats would show exactly how dominant the Falcons are.
The opening tip was the closest the Ohio came to a lead, as it fell 63-39 to the Falcons on their Senior Day in Bowling Green. The loss is the Bobcats’ 10th in 11 games.
“We just struggled to make shots,” coach Bob Boldon. “Our execution was good at times but sometimes it was bad and the end product was usually bad. We just didn’t make shots. It’s difficult to win on the road when you don’t shoot a very good percentage.”
The Bobcats finished the game shooting just 20 percent from the field and struggled without leading scorer, sophomore guard Kiyanna Black.
Black, who watched from the bench in a sling, was unavailable for Ohio after injuring her shoulder durinig Thursday's win against Buffalo.
But without Black, freshman guard Yamonie Jenkins stepped up for Ohio and finished the afternoon with her career-high 12 points.
“Offensively, this was the best she’s played all year,” Boldon said. “It’s nice to see that hard work pay off. I thought she came off the bench and gave us some really good minutes tonight.”
Bowling Green opened the offensive gates early and led 19-3 midway through the first half. Ohio responded with an 8-2 run, but still trailed by 12 points at halftime.
The loss was not a result of Ohio not putting in enough effort, the Bobcats just had an off afternoon against the team tied for the top spot in the MAC. The last time Ohio and Bowling Green teams met, the Bobcats led for most of the game but had a second half meltdown and fell 78-62 on Jan. 30.
“I thought we played well enough defensively to win the game but not nearly enough offensively to win the game,” Boldon said.
Ohio will next play on Wednesday when they host Kent State for the Bobcats' last regular season game in The Convo. Ohio won 76-59 when the teams met on Jan. 15.
Fast Facts
Bowling Green 63 (25-3, 15-1 MAC)
Ohio 39 (9-18, 4-12 MAC)
— The Bobcats have lost 10 of their last 11 games.
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