Wednesday's matchup is Ohio's biggest game so far this season, in more ways than one.
Wednesday night’s game against Eastern Michigan is fairly straightforward.
Ohio, undefeated in Mid-American Conference play, faces Eastern Michigan, the last conference team to beat Ohio.
It’s also a rematch of the MAC Championship game in March, when the Bobcats won their first outright conference title since 1986.
Those are the surface-level storylines.
But Wednesday night will also unearth a much deeper and more complex tale: the careers of senior guard Kiyanna Black and Eastern’s Cha Sweeney.
Black and Sweeney have a similar trajectory. Both players lead their respective teams, and both have good teams surrounding them.
Sweeney’s story conjures a tale of a team’s recovery. Last season she led the Eagles, who metaphorically transformed into phoenixes, after teammate Shannise Heady was tragically killed in a car crash. The quest got Sweeney and the Eagles to the conference final, only to fall to the Bobcats.
Black’s story recalls a complete transformation of a basketball culture.
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During her freshman season, Ohio went 6-23. It was the worst season in school history.
During her junior season, Black led Ohio to a 27-5 record — the best in school history.
Whereas Sweeney is attempting to change Eastern Michigan, Black has already changed Ohio.
Black, who was named an Ohio D-III Player of the Year her senior season at Columbus-Africentric High School in 2012, has been a four-year starter for the Bobcats and one of the program's best scorers.
Her 1,415 career points is ranked fifth-best in Ohio history.
During Black's sophomore year, coach Bob Boldon’s first season in Athens, she literally pushed the team forward.
“Quite frankly, there were times my first year where our best chance at scoring was if she made a shot,” Boldon said. “And that was kind of it.”
That 2013-14 season also had various issues, ranging from player injuries to six freshmen needing to play.
At one point, the eldest players available were Black and Lexie Baldwin, who were sophomores at the time.
“My early years I was forcing it a lot, and I felt like I had to score or do everything,” Black said earlier this season.
Boldon said the team hoped Black would make her shots. She finished the season taking almost 22 percent of the team’s total attempts.
“When you get to hoping, you run out of all good options,” Boldon said.
So instead of leaning on hope, the Bobcats regrouped.
When the offense improved, thanks to the maturity of the Bobcats, practices focused on the defense. Within one season, hope of scraping together a competitive team switched to fielding a good team that could win the conference.
The 2015-16 season has been more of the same.
Although two starters left (Mariah Byard graduated and Kat Yelle transferred to Bradley), the Bobcats are 11-3 and arguably better than last year’s historic team.
And as Ohio has developed, so has Black. Her shot selection is wiser. The team no longer relies on her for offensive production. Rather, it’s Black who can rely on everyone else.
“I think it’s her maturity,” Boldon said. “I think it’s her trust in her teammates, and her teammates have gotten better.”
So, when Eastern and Ohio tip off Wednesday night, the obvious storylines will be there.
The Bobcats will enter the contest knowing their last conference loss was to the Eagles.
But Sweeney will know something, too.
She and her teammates realize there isn't a MAC title banner hanger in their Convocation Center. Instead, the banner rests in The Convo in Athens.
And Sweeney will know of Ohio’s turnaround under Black. After all, she’s trying to do the same.
@charliehatch_
gh181212@ohio.edu
