Ohio travels to Toledo Saturday and may be without one of its starters.
The Bobcats have some extra time to rest this week, as they don't have a midweek game for the first time since late December.
And after a 25-point decimation Saturday against Kent State inside The Convo, practice has a certain bit of levity to it.
But that doesn't mean coach Bob Boldon and Ohio (18-4, 10-1 Mid-American Conference) aren't worrying about its game this Saturday against Toledo (13-9, 8-3 MAC).
"That's a tough place to play," Boldon said of Toledo. "They're (8-3) right now and they could be in first place by the next time we play them. It'll be a good challenge."
The Bobcats should be up for the challenge, as the Rockets are in the middle of the pack in nearly every measurable stat recorded by the MAC.
Ohio, meanwhile, leads the conference in defense, scoring margin, 3-point field goals made and blocked shots. And it has only lost one game in conference play all season — an anomaly in Buffalo where the team only scored 43 points and was without junior forward Jasmine Weatherspoon.
But Weatherspoon is back, and so is Ohio's suffocating defense and quick-transitional play. Weatherspoon is the team's rock in the paint and her contesting shots, grabbing rebounds and providing quick outlet passes to senior guard Kiyanna Black or junior forward Quiera Lampkins leads to easy points for the Bobcats.
For Black, she has shouldered less of the scoring burden in each consecutive game this season, with Lampkins, Weatherspoon and many of the bench players stepping up.
And how does Boldon explain the increase in bench scoring as the year has gone on?
"Player development," he said. "We keep getting better at every position and not just put it on KB and Kiki to score for us. We have players that are good enough to do that and we need to continue to do that."
The bench may play a bigger role Saturday, as starting junior guard Yamonie Jenkins sustained a leg injury during the win over Kent State. But Boldon was dismissive of it after the game, saying he held her out of the rest of the game only as a precaution.
It seemed a bit more than that when she didn't participate in five-on-five scrimmages Wednesday, but Boldon still believes she will be available for Saturday's game.
"I expect her to play, and play well, on Saturday," Boldon said. "We understand the urgency of the situation. We have seven games left. And we're going to try to play our best for those seven games and put ourselves in the best situation we can to get a good seed in the tournament."
Last year, the Bobcats came out of nowhere to win 16 of their 18 conference games, win the MAC regular season title and then win the conference tournament and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
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Now they have the chance to top that. If they can get through this next stretch of seven games with the same urgency that drove them through the first 22, they won't get another full week of rest until late March.
@KellenBecoats
kb749012@ohio.edu
