The Battle of the Bricks is usually a safe bet for some competitive, close matchups, especially when the battle plays out on the court. Ohio (6-21 overall, 4-12 Mid-America Conference) and Miami (18-9 overall, 10-6 MAC) are long storied rivals, and have had some classic games between the two schools.
The first time that both Women’s Basketball teams faced off this season was unfortunately the opposite of a classic game, especially if you’re an Ohio fan. The game in Millett Hall in Oxford was possibly the worst game Ohio has played this season.
The Bobcats were held to just 34 total points, a staggering season low total when considering Ohio has played Power 4 schools such as Ohio State and Georgia this season.
“The first time we played them, it was just rough,” Ohio guard Bailey Tabeling said. “You can look at the score, you can know we just didn't play our best. I think the whole team had an off night instead of just one person.”
Ohio shot in the 20s and 10s in terms of shooting percentage from the floor and from three respectively, and only shot eight free throws.
To make things worse, the other end of the floor wasn’t much better as Miami shot over 50% from the floor and 38.6% from three. Star guards Enjulina Gonzalez and Maya Chandler combined for 40 total points, outscoring the entirety of Ohio’s team.
The rematch in The Convo could have easily been more of the same. However, thanks to some key defensive adjustments, Ohio was in the game the entire way, holding a lead for the majority of the game.
The plan was clear from the jump as Ohio opened with a zone, and stuck with it the whole game, clogging passing lanes and making quick rotations to rack up turnovers. Miami finished the game with 20 turnovers.
“We really worked on making sure we're in gaps, making it hard for them to kind of get into the paint, because that's where we knew they wanted to go,” Tabeling said.
The zone was able to shut down Gonzalez, a volume scorer who is fluid with the ball and creates her own shot. Coming into The Convo on Saturday, she was averaging 17.2 points per game, and was only able to get 11 points on 4-19 shooting from the floor.
“Defensively, I was really proud of our effort,” Ohio head coach Bob Boldon said. “I thought we did a good job of eliminating some of the things that gave us trouble the first time that we played them.”
The defense ultimately wasn’t enough to win a huge rivalry, as it was once again a stagnant offense, which was the downfall for Ohio. It shot 23.6% from the floor and 24% from three, bad numbers that would look even worse if it wasn’t for the free throw shooting. Ohio went 21-26 from the charity stripe on the day.
The defense was the clear star of the game Saturday. If they were able to shoot the ball a little better, the Bobcats may have pulled off the upset.
Ohio will look to keep the defense strong for its final home game of the season this Wednesday against Western Michigan.
