Eastern Michigan defeated Ohio inside The Convo and snapped the Bobcats 10-game winning streak.
Coach Bob Boldon sat on the scorer’s table during the first half of Wednesday’s game against Eastern Michigan, patiently waiting for the Bobcats to pry away from an Eagles team playing their second game in as many nights.
The Bobcats had been in close games before Wednesday, but junior guard Kiyanna Black or redshirt junior Kat Yelle had always made plays to savor any disappointment for Ohio.
This time, however, no one saved the Bobcats as their 10-game winning streak was snapped in a 73-61 loss in The Convo.
“It’s sad that it was us that lost, but happy that’s how the game works,” Boldon said. “You’re happy that the team that plays harder and does things right wins because that’s your ultimate goal.”
Boldon’s frustration was understandable. The Bobcats (20-4, 11-2 MAC) had no answer to Eastern Michigan’s energy.
After defeating Miami on Tuesday night, the Eagles (14-10, 7-6 MAC) walked in with warm up shirts that had “32” largely printed across them in remembrance of the death of starting forward Shannise Heady on Jan. 25.
Ohio took a 16-5 lead early in the first half, Eastern Michigan guard Cha Sweeney and Jamaica Bucknor utilized multiple runs to take the lead at 15:18 in the second half.
After taking the lead, Eastern Michigan never trailed again.
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The Bobcats attempted to come back late by attempting multiple desperation 3-pointers, but none provided the missing spark.
Sweeney finished with 23 points and sophomore guard Quiera Lampkins lead Ohio with 17 points.
“I think sometimes, we think teams are gonna lay down and let us win because we’re the ‘best team in the league’,” Black said.
The Eagles defended the Bobcats with a 2-3 defensive zone for almost the entirety of the game and Ohio struggled to finish at the rim. Ohio shot just 34 percent from the field.
Black said the Bobcats noticed the defensive scheme, but could not knock down the shots they have been making all season.
“I think we came into the game thinking we were gonna easily win because we kinda handed it to them at their place, but we got what we deserved,” Black said. “We didn’t come out, we didn’t play hard. We took things for granted.”
Boldon, who at one point was pacing back and forth in front of Ohio’s bench, even tried platoon swapping Ohio’s starters just to find a spark.
Nothing worked.
“The team with the better shouldn’t automatically win,” Boldon said. “Most years that’s really good for us; this year, turns out, we have a decent record. It would’ve been nice if the team with the better record automatically won like all those websites (assume).”
@Lukeoroark
Lr514812@ohio.edu
