Mariah Byard, the only senior on the Bobcats, has remained consistent with her play despite being one of the last of her class left on the team.
During a Monday shootaround, Mariah Byard rested her hands on her hips and waited patiently to hear instructions from assistant coach Mary Evans.
“OK, I need two up top and one in the corner,” said Evans, conducting a two-on-one drill with Byard, Jasmine Weatherspoon and Hannah Boesinger.
Byard jogged up to the top of the key with a hop in her step.
After the drill, Byard — the Bobcats’ only senior — paced between each hoop in The Convo, perfecting her free throw mechanics.
Ohio practices daily in the early afternoon and after about 20 minutes of stretching to end the day, the men’s basketball team creeps onto the court.
But Byard stays a few minutes late to work on her free throws.
She remains confident, but phlegmatic, with her shot — almost never grimacing from the release of the ball.
“She’s a great leader,” redshirt junior Kat Yelle said. “She’s been making some big shots for us and she’s really a calming factor out there on the floor.”
Being a leader, however, has been perplexing for Byard. The Mannington, West Virginia, native entered her freshman campaign in 2011-12 along with five others recruits, but only she and Yelle remain on the roster for their fourth years.
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“It’s just a difficult transition,” Byard said. “Obviously coming from high school is difficult in itself, but I mean, just looking back at it now, seeing I’m the only one left, out of five, is really weird for me.
“People went different ways and things happen, that’s how life goes.”
Some wouldn’t even notice that Byard is just one of the few women on the Bobcats' team that could legally buy alcohol uptown. Despite being one of the oldest players, Byard can be just as spirited as the eight underclassmen on coach Bob Boldon’s roster.
“Oh, I had that same recorder for a class one year,” she laughed, energetically pointing at a reporter’s recorder after Ohio’s win over Manhattan.
The Bobcats’ game against the Jaspers was Byard’s breakout performance this year, scoring 24 points on 8 for 12 shooting from the field.
“She works very hard at shooting and is a tremendous shooter,” Boldon said after that win. “She hasn’t had a lot of success this year shooting the ball, so it was nice to see a couple of them go in and hopefully that’s a sign of what’s to come from her.”
Boldon was correct: It was a sign.
Byard struggled to find her shot early in the season, going 6 for 23 from the field in Ohio’s first four games, but has been a difference maker as of late. Against Central Michigan last Saturday, Byard kept the Bobcats’ offense afloat by hitting four 3-pointers.
During one first-half possession, she planted herself in the left corner, as Yelle pushed the ball upcourt. Yelle then peeled out of a double team and passed to Quiera Lampkins at the top of the key, who found Byard in the corner alone.
Byard’s shot, which extended the Bobcats' lead to 14, looked almost identical to the shot she hoisted in Monday’s shootaround. It never hit the rim.
“She’s shooting the ball spectacularly this year,” junior forward Lexie Baldwin said. “Her offense is just taking us to another level.”
Byard is one of many reasons the Bobcats are off to one of their best starts in program history, sitting atop the Mid-American Conference at 13-3 overall. When Byard scores 10 or more points in a game, Ohio is undefeated (5-0).
In the past three years, Byard and the Bobcats went just 29-62 overall, as multiple players in Byard and Yelle’s recruiting class left the Bobcats in a rebuilding process because of injuries or other reasons.
But Byard is still playing, continuing to perfect her jumpshot one Monday shootaround at a time.
“It’s great to go out there and play with these girls,” Byard said. “I love all of them and it’s just been really fun.”
@Lukeoroark
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