The Ohio women's basketball team did not have to worry about peaking early. Saturday, 25 games into the 27-game regular season, the Bobcats finally played the complete game they have been looking for all season.
"Teams are going to be their best right now," Ohio coach Lynn Bria said. "Offensively, we played a 40-minute game and I really felt, execution wise, this (was) our best game of the year."
Marshall (9-15 overall, 5-7 Mid-American Conference) could not find a way to stop the inside moves of Ohio forward Latreece Bagley and the outside shooting of guard Candace Bates. The two combined to shoot 14-of-24 from the floor for 39 points — including a game-high 21 from Bates.
Ohio (8-17, 4-10 MAC) also changed its defensive set from games past and used a 2-3 zone called "Fresno" to force Marshall into shooting 35.5 percent from the floor, including 22.5 percent in the first half.
"We know they don't look to shoot the three as much as other teams in the conference, and they really only have a couple of shooters," Ohio forward Erin Isbell said. "Fresno, when you have a team that penetrates, is the best thing to do."
Ohio held Marshall's leading scorer, guard Sikeetha Shepard-Hall, to 11 points and 1-of-8 shooting from three-point range. Marshall, which averages only 9.3 three-point attempts per game, shot 20 and connected on just three of them.
With the cold shooting from outside, this made for a physical game inside. Marshall grabbed 44 rebounds, 23 of which were offensive, and Ohio pulled down 40.
"The MAC is a smash-mouth league, and if you're going to play in the paint in the MAC, you're going to get hit in the face," Marshall coach Royce Chadwick said. "It's blood and guts in this league and you've got to rise to the occasion."
Isbell and Bagley both said the game got dirty toward the end, but it was something they expected.
"I knew it was going to be a physical game because I'm a lot smaller," Isbell said. "I knew coming in that the refs weren't going to call everything and let some stuff go."
With the win, Ohio swept the series with Marshall, also beating them in Huntington, W.Va on Feb. 5.
Ohio goes on its final regular-season road trip to take on Miami at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Oxford and Akron at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 4 in Akron.
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Laurie Duffy
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Ohio forward Lindsay Wight jumps toward the ball against Marshall center Amy Reed on Saturday at The Convo. The Bobcats topped the Thundering Herd 80-66 and will travel to face Miami on Wednesday in Oxford.
