Ohio was expecting to be in the NCAA Tournament again this year. But it's not and playing in the WNIT won't be that bad, either.
Going into the 2015-16 season, Ohio planned on winning the Mid-American Conference outright in back-to-back seasons, which in turn, would lead to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
That didn't happen.
Instead, the Bobcats will be playing in the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) after winning the regular season conference title.
And that's OK.
An NCAA Tournament win was a goal this season; that didn't happen. But an automatic bid to the WNIT, gives Ohio a glimpse of optimism.
Coach Bob Boldon has said all season, no one on the team wants to win more than senior guard Kiyanna Black.
The loss hit her hard in Cleveland, but she and the Bobcats now have a chance at redemption.
Black and the Bobcats will face Marshall on Thursday in the WNIT. The time will be announced Tuesday afternoon.
So what does Ohio have to prove with a WNIT berth? That it can play competitively with some of the top teams around the country.
This season, Ohio had one of the toughest schedules in program history. It played Illinois close in it’s first game of the season, something Boldon nor followers of the team would have predicted. It wasn’t until the final minutes of the game that Illinois pulled away.
Ohio then travelled to Nashville to play in the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament where it beat Big-10 competitor, Indiana, and only lost to Vanderbilt by three.
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Ohio looked nearly flawless at the beginning of the season. It looked so strong, halfway through conference play, the team was on a 12-game win streak. A setback to Buffalo slowed the team down, but didn't stop it.
So a bid into the WNIT will reinforce Ohio's worth, something that was notable early in conference play.
With an exception to Buffalo, Ohio only struggled against two other teams in the conference (Central Michigan and Ball State).
The conference tournament loss to Buffalo was not what Ohio expected. But it may be what the team needed. This season was somewhat of a reality check for the team. Things won’t come to it just because Ohio is good.
So playing in the WNIT will give the team some experience against teams that are similar to some of the other teams the Bobcats played early in the season.
A good run in the WNIT and Ohio should still see this as a successful season. This season should already be considered a success.
Though it’s not ideal for how well the team played this season, it could be worse: the Bobcats could be 9-21 again.
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