The freshmen collected 43 points in final exhibition game of the preseason.
The five freshmen on the team didn’t look nervous in Saturday’s exhibition game against Wilmington College.
Instead, they looked like they were part of the 2015 reigning Mid-American Conference team.
Compiling 43 points collectively in Ohio's 97-41 blowout win, the “new kids on the block” outscored their opponent, despite each player averaging 13.6 minutes of playing time.
Certainly their impressive debut made coach Bob Boldon’s decision on who to play a little more difficult.
He said in practice each player would get to play, but it would also be the last time he does this. The way the freshmen played, though, could suggest that his rotation shrinks only by a few players.
On Saturday, 13 players got minutes on the court and 12 of them scored at least a basket.
“We just know we have to go out there and do our best,” freshman forward Dominique Doseck said.
Doseck, an Athens native, debuted her collegiate career Saturday and brought a fan section along with her. She tallied 10 points and spent a decent amount of time on the court with the returning players as those incoming.
“It was pretty nerve-wrecking at first,” Doseck said, “But once I got out there for a little bit, it was a lot easier to play out there with the team.”
Freshman forward Olivia Bower came off the bench with 15 points and guard Katie Barker scored nine.
So what does this mean for Ohio?
This means Boldon has plenty of options to choose from, which can be a blessing and a curse.
“There’s a lot of really good basketball players on this team,” he said.
Boldon said he was fortunate enough to have the same starting five players for every game last year, and this year, he may not be that fortunate.
Though it is nice to have a consistent starting group, having so many options isn’t bad either.
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He was pleased with how the team played without senior forward Lexie Baldwin, who's injured and her status for the season opener on Nov. 15 at Illinois is still uncertain.
With or without Baldwin, there will be players willing to fill in, even if it means a deeper substitution pattern than the third-year coach Boldon originally intended.
What he said he wants to do, though, is figure out which group of players can play together and best and utilize them.
“It’s nice to have the depth that we have,” Boldon said.
For now, it appears to be a blessing.
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