No. 14 Ohio will play No. 3 Arizona State Saturday in Tempe, Arizona.
The tournament is slated: No. 14 Ohio will play No. 3 Arizona State in Tempe, Arizona, on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Bobcats discovered their first-round matchup at 7:30 p.m. Monday while watching a televised selection show at Buffalo Wild Wings in Athens. Ohio last competed in the NCAA Tournament in 1995 and has never won an NCAA Tournament game.
“It’s just exciting to see your name on the board,” said Ohio coach Bob Boldon. “Especially after the first two regions went by, I was double checking if we actually qualified for the tournament.”
Under Boldon, the Bobcats compiled a program-best 27-4 record. They’re coming off their first Mid-American Conference Tournament title since 1986. The last time Ohio competed in the NCAA Tournament, then-coach Marsha Reall and the Bobcats were knocked out in their first round game against Washington.
The Bobcats defeated Eastern Michigan this past Saturday in the conference championship game by a score of 60-44. Ohio junior guard Kiyanna Black led all scorers with 25 points and junior forward Lexie Baldwin also contributed 13 points and five rebounds.
“We’re treating it like preseason because in the preseason we played teams we’ve never seen before,” sophomore guard Yamonie Jenkins said. “So our coaches have a game plan for everyone we play.”
Black led the Bobcats this season in scoring with 16.1 points per game and was named to the all-MAC team earlier this month.
Fellow guard, sophomore Quiera Lampkins, was second behind Black in scoring, averaging 12.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.
Arizona State went 27-5 this season (15-3 in the Pacific-12 Conference play) and lost to Stanford by three points in the second round of the PAC-12 conference tournament.
The Sun Devils are lead by coach Charli Turner Thorne and leading-scorer Sophie Brunner. Brunner, a sophomore forward, averaged 11.7 points in 32 games this season.
Regardless of the Bobcats’ seeding and first-round opponent, Boldon is confident his team can compete in the “Big Dance.”
“It’s hard to have an opinion on any of the seeding because I don’t watch a lot of basketball,” Boldon said. “I watch our kids play, I watch our games, I watch the teams we’re preparing for and quite frankly, when I’m done watching that I don’t have anymore interest of watching any more basketball … I enjoy the tournament. It’s always been something I liked since I was a kid. I think the tournament is a great time.”
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