The list hanging in Ohio’s locker room outlining the team’s goals for the season has one spot awaiting its checkmark.
Earn double-digit wins in conference play? Check.
Advance to the Mid-American Conference Tournament? Check.
Earn a bye in the tournament? Check.
After every match, the best performer of the game does the honors of putting pen to paper and etching that checkmark, showing the progress the team has made.
And Ohio just needs to do one more thing to earn that ultimate checkmark: win the tournament.
The road to DeKalb
The road to this week’s MAC Tournament in DeKalb, Illinois. hasn’t been without its challenges for the Bobcats.
With 10 underclassmen, they bring one of the youngest teams to the tournament. They’ve dealt with injuries, illnesses and some of their best players underperforming.
But with coach Deane Webb's 20 years of head coaching experience, they were able to piece together yet another impressive season for the historic program.
And after losing one of the best graduating classes in recent memory, it’s even more impressive.
“Earning a third seed this year after graduating everyone we did last year,” Webb said, “is a more impressive achievement than earning a two seed one year ago."
Last year, the Bobcats were the second seed in the MAC Tournament that took place on their own home court at The Convo. They eventually won the tournament, their third title in six years.
With the challenges they’ve faced this season, however, earning another ring this year is an extraordinary task.
One last time
Brooke Coleman knows any of the games in DeKalb could be her last in an Ohio uniform.
But that’s what will push her to perform well during the tournament.
“Anything could end at any moment,” she said, "so you have to capitalize them on that."
During her collegiate career, the senior captain has been part of a team that has won either a regular season or tournament championship each year.
Winning this year would mean she would have a ring for every finger on her hand, and that’s not something many student athletes in any sport can accomplish.
Her defense has played an important part in the team’s success this season, but what will really help the Bobcats in this tournament is her experience.
Coleman has been in a MAC title game twice in her career, once in 2013 and again in 2015, with an appearance in the conference semifinals in 2014.
“That's a great deal of experience to offer to your teammates,” Webb said.
With that experience comes a great deal of knowledge about the MAC Tournament. In past tournaments, Coleman has been on the top seed twice and the second seed once.
But after two tournament championship rings on her finger, she thinks that a three seed fits the Bobcats well.
They will only have one bye in the tournament, unlike the two they’ve had in the past two years.
“Playing twice in a weekend is good,” Coleman said. “But at the same time, everyone else is starting while you're waiting around. I think one bye is actually perfect.”
Finishing the job
When Ohio hits the court this week, it will be something it hasn’t been in the three years Webb has been with the program: underdogs. Of course, Ohio didn’t just squeak into the tournament, but for the first time since Webb arrived with the program, it won’t be one of the favorites to win it.
“I don't think we're used to it,” redshirt junior Ali Lake said. “I think it's nice being the underdog because we're going to get underestimated.”
The Bobcats were very much underdogs to begin the season. They were picked to finish third in the coaches’ preseason poll, where not a single coach picked them to win the tournament.
But they have worked all season to shed that image.
After a subpar non-conference portion of their schedule, they began to tear through the conference in September, as they won five of their first six matches.
Ohio finished with an 11-5 conference record.
Webb knew from the get-go they would have a low RPI and that their conference record would be the only thing that could propel them to their third NCAA Tournament appearance in four years.
Simply put, if Ohio doesn’t win the MAC Tournament, their season is over. There’s no hope for further postseason play.
That means the last checkmark on their list is by far the most important. And that’s where their focus is right now.
“The only thing left to check off on their board is to win the conference tournament,” Webb said. “We're still in the running to do that."
