Hannah Boesinger isn’t typically the most flashy, noticeable player on the floor for the Bobcats.
On Dec. 3 against Duquesne, Boesinger was filling in as a starter for injured forward Kelly Karlis and was tasked with helping keep a pair of 6-foot-3 behemoths away from rebounds.
She recorded just six points and two rebounds, but her teammates had nothing but praise for her effort afterwards.
“(Boesinger) is our fighter,” guard Quiera Lampkins said. “She probably plays her role the best on this team.”
This is who “Hannah Bo,” as her teammates call her for her tendency to throw elbows in the post, normally is. She is the hard working, red-faced and sweat-laden bench forward who enters the game when Ohio coach Bob Boldon thinks his team is looking sluggish and needs a fiery presence to rub off on his players.
It wasn’t always that way, however, and since Jasmine Weatherspoon's knee injury, Boesinger is proving she can prove her worth to her team on and off the stat sheet.
As she admitted herself, Boesinger has never been exceptionally quick or athletic. At 5-foot-11, she’s just tall enough to be too tall to play guard in college, but undersized for a center.
In high school, none of her physical disadvantages mattered. During that time, Boesinger’s unyielding determination was enough to dominate her competition. Through mostly bullying opponents on drives to the basket and getting put backs off of offensive rebounds, she scored 1,056 points in her varsity career.
That number is good for sixth all time at Hudson High School outside Cleveland, and Boesinger won All-Northeast Ohio Player of the Year her senior season.
“She just seemed to have a knack for scoring,” Boldon said. “It wasn’t necessarily the way you thought it would go in, but it was effective.”
In college, Boesinger’s role has changed. Though she has shown flashes of her offensive capabilities, such as her career-high 25 points against Murray State in last season’s opener, her career average sits at 5.8 points per game.
She also hasn’t averaged 20 minutes per game since her freshman year. Though her ability to push bigger bodies out of the way is valuable, her limited minutes have prevented her from reaching five rebounds per game in her career.
Since Weatherspoon left the Western Michigan game after playing four minutes, however, Boesinger has seized her opportunity to show off her talents.
Since the leading rebounder and second leading scorer for the Bobcats gingerly walked off the court, Boesinger has averaged 12.8 points (including consecutive season-highs), 6.5 rebounds and has shot six percent higher than her season average. All the while, her attitude hasn’t changed — she still plays with the goal of out-working her opponents, whether the results follow or not.
“(My approach) has always been the same,” Boesinger said. “No matter if I come off the bench or start, I just try to come in and bring energy to help my team win.”
When her team has needed her most, Boesinger has proven her workhorse approach can affect the game in ways both measurable and not. She still doesn’t operate in the most flamboyant manner, but it’s been impossible to watch the Bobcats over the past 10 days without noticing Boesinger.
"I'm happy you guys are finally starting to talk about her," Boldon said.
