After a nine-day break, Ohio will return to work Monday against James Madison.
In its first loss of the season, Ohio played an East Carolina team that was long, athletic and more aggressive than its first six opponents.
Ohio could see more of the same against James Madison on Monday in The Convo.
“It’s drastically different (than the first six team’s Ohio played),” coach Bob Boldon said. “We haven’t seen anyone like (ECU) all year and JMU will be similar … time will tell if they are athletic as ECU.”
Coming in, the Bobcats (6-1) will look to get back on track after starting the season 6-0 for the first time since January of 1986.
Three players, including junior guard Kiyanna Black, sophomore guard Quiera Lampkins and junior forward Lexie Baldwin, average double-digit points for Ohio.
Against East Carolina, the Bobcats faced half-court presses during the first half and committed 21 turnovers in the 76-68 loss. Boldon said the Bobcats need to clean up their turnovers against an unfamiliar Dukes squad.
“Our movement, early in the year, hasn’t been very good,” Boldon said. “If you’re going to be a motion team you’re going to get that at times, especially in early December. That’s why you wanna play teams like ECU so you get a good gauge of where you’re at and what works.”
James Madison (7-1) is coming off a 73-57 win over Davidson, as the Dukes length could cause trouble for the Bobcats.
The Dukes currently have seven players listed above six-feet and cause 5.8 steals per game and have a 2.2 turnover margin.
The Bobcats could be without sophomore guard Yamonie Jenkins, who shares ball handling duties with redshirt junior guard Kat Yelle.
According to her Twitter account, Jenkins suffered a concussion in Ohio’s loss to East Carolina, as she ran into a hard pick just a few seconds before halftime.
Jenkins leads the team with 26 assists and just four turnovers this season.
“It’s hard for guards to stop me and Kat, especially when we are going full speed,” Jenkins said. “When we got our team running with us, it’s really hard to stop us all, so that’s why we keep pushing the ball and want to have the fast tempo.”
Precious Hall leads the Dukes in scoring, averaging 24 points per game. Boldon and the Bobcats will likely lock on to her, as Ohio has given up 143 points in the past two games.
In previous seasons, Ohio has jumped out to fast starts only to finish its season with a record below the .500 mark. The Bobcats hope to change that trend against the Dukes.
“I think (moving forward) depends on your mindset, some people need to lose to learn and some people can learn from winning and I don’t know. We’ll find out against JMU.”
@Lukeoroark
lr514812@ohio.edu
