Ohio plays Central Michigan on Saturday at 2 p.m.
When Ohio hosted Central Michigan on Jan. 17, 2015 last season, the Bobcats had to find a way to stop the preseason Mid-American Conference favorites.
Going on a 14-1 run to start the game, Ohio’s 71-51 blowout win left coach Bob Boldon dubbing it the biggest win he had produced in his stint in Athens.
That was 2015. And things have changed.
For starters, Central Michigan’s Crystal Bradford was drafted with the seventh overall pick in the WNBA back in April. She now plays for the Los Angeles Sparks, who’s head coach is actually the father of Ohio guard Taylor Agler.
For Ohio, that win propelled the Bobcats into the best season in program history, finishing with a MAC title and NCAA Tournament appearance.
A lot has happened since then.
It’ll be a little different when the Chippewas come to The Convo on Saturday — 364 days since that monumental lost.
This time around, there's a role reversal.
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Ohio is 12-3 and off to a 4-0 start in conference play for the first time in school history.
Impressive wins have become the norm. In fact, the Bobcats have already beaten two of the other three teams that made it to the MAC Tournament semi-finals back in March.
Eastern Michigan, which Ohio played in the championship game, was Ohio’s latest victim Wednesday night.
Perhaps the biggest difference between the January 2015 and January 2016 games will be the progress the Bobcats have made.
Spotlights follow the usual suspects: senior guard, Kiyanna Black and junior forward, Quiera Lampkins, deservedly so.
But it’s the supporting cast making the loudest raucous.
Jasmine Weatherspoon, a junior forward and one of Ohio’s new starters this season, has transitioned into a strong, rebounding forward. Against Eastern, Weatherspoon’s eight blocks set a school record.
Yamonie Jenkins, the other new starter, has quickly assimilated into the point guard role, replacing Kat Yelle from last season.
Jenkins, a junior, leads the group out the backcourt and her quick passes slip through opposing defenses.
Lexie Baldwin, a senior who’s had injuries in the past, has cemented her role as Ohio’s other dominant forward, a spot she’s maintained throughout her career.
Dominique Doseck, a freshman from Athens High School, has quickly worked herself into more minutes as the season has efficiently carried on.
Redshirt freshman Kelly Karlis and junior *Hannah Boesinger, as well as redshirt senior Mariah Harris have all been influential players in each of Ohio’s wins.
It’s this amount of depth that makes Ohio so dangerous this season and completely incomparable to last year’s home matchup with Central.
Players are rotated more frequently, wearing out opponents on both sides of the floor.
So yes, the Bobcats and Chippewas meet again one year on from Boldon’s “first” big win.
One team, Central Michigan, has been dethroned from its MAC-favorite pedestal. The other, Ohio, is busy putting together another campaign to dismantle the conference regular season.
To this point, this is the best start in the MAC that the team’s pieced together. The Chippewas certainly cannot say the same.
@charliehatch_
gh181212@ohio.edu
