Ohio returned to action Monday when it hosted Long Island for its season opener. Ohio showcased its mostly healthy bench, which featured some athletes who hadn't played at all last season. Unfortunately, the good could not outweigh the bad, and Ohio lost 74-67.
Ohio struggled early and fell behind 14-7 at the end of the first quarter. Long Island came out in a matchup zone that threw Ohio's offense off balance. The defense tried to recover, but it caused Ohio to draw more fouls than intended. Redshirt senior Caitlyn Kroll, who missed last season due to injury, registered two early fouls along with sophomore Yaya Felder.
The Bobcats coupled their early foul trouble with poor shooting. They were unable to put the ball in the basket from all areas of the court. The Bobcats shot under 50% from field goal range in three of four quarters. The first quarter was the worst all-around as they shot 14.3% from the field and only 9.1% from beyond the arc. The Bobcats ended the night 17-for-49 from field goal range.
"We're definitely putting the pieces together," Kroll said. "It's our first real game as a team. We had two great scrimmages. I think some first game jitters (caused that) for sure, we'll regroup tomorrow."
After Ohio surged to cut Long Island's lead to just two points at the half, it struggled in the third quarter. Ohio was outscored by its opponent 24-13. Ohio knew that it would need to renew its energy to make a run in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough. Long Island missed all but one free throw in the fourth quarter to lift itself above Ohio.
"Obviously we're disappointed in that we lost and we will try like crazy to win, but there's a lot of value in this," Ohio coach Bob Boldon said. "We've got a lot of kids that hadn't played a college basketball game in a long time and they got that done today."
After last season was full of injuries, Ohio's roster is going to need time in order to mesh with the new faces on the team.
