Ohio will travel to Champaign to battle Illinois for its first regular season game.
The freshmen scored 43 combined points in their first competitive Division-I game. Perhaps it's fitting that their first regular season game is in a high school gym.
“I feel like the freshman will be more at home than the returners will be,” freshman guard Dominique Doseck said.
Although they might feel more at home, the Bobcats will begin their 2015-16 campaign at an away game in Champaign, Illinois, on Sunday.
Regardless of the location, the season opener will be a test to see how an Ohio team fresh off its best season in program history can recover and improve.
“Obviously, it won’t be 17-0,” coach Bob Boldon said, referring to Ohio's 17-0 lead to start the Wilmington College exhibition game last Saturday. “But we hopefully come out (very well).
“We’re going to do some things poorly, and you just hope that before the next game, you can improve on them.”
Boldon said the defense is the one thing he wants to change on Sunday after last Saturday's 97-41 exhibition win.
Ohio, which played a 2-3 flex and some man-to-man defense, allowed Wilmington to score 20 points in the second quarter — nearly half the Quakers' total points.
“We got up a bunch and kind of took our foot off the gas, so to speak,” Boldon said. “And you can’t do that. Good teams don’t do that.”
Having senior forward Lexie Baldwin might help fix the problem.
Baldwin, who missed the Wilmington game, is expected to play against Illinois, Boldon said. She's been Ohio's main presence down low on both sides of the court in Boldon's past two seasons with the team.
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But Baldwin's absence allowed Ohio to adjust, switching to junior Jasmine Weatherspoon and senior Mariah Harris as forwards. Even redshirt freshman Kelly Karlis, who missed most of the 2014-15 season injured, had a significant presence.
Certainly the level of intensity Illinois will provide will be more than Wilmington, but the Bobcats, who are the reigning Mid-American Conference outright champions, should have an early season reality check—whether it's good or bad.
“It cranks up the intensity,” Boldon said. “I’m anxious to see what happens Sunday.”
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