Expectations for the Ohio Women’s Basketball team were quite high coming into this 2024-25 season in Athens. The previous year, Ohio coach Bob Boldon took a team that had won just six games the year prior to the MAC tournament on the back of a freshman trio of Bailey Tabeling, Monica Williams and Laylay Fantroy.
While that 2023-24 squad’s season ended at the hands of Ball State in Cleveland, the future seemed clear for an Ohio team that had loads of young talent, including then-sophomore Jaya McClure, who would be returning for another season.
Lost in the shuffle of what appeared to be the distinct young core for Ohio was another freshman, Indianapolis native Asiah Baxter.
It was admittedly hard for Baxter to be on the bench for most of her freshman season, especially coming from the high school ranks where she was highly-touted.
“It was definitely just a wake-up call to know that this is big, you literally have to put in the work to be in that big position,” Baxter said. “It was different for me, coming from schools and AAU teams where (I’m) actually playing every two minutes, going to barely seeing the floor. It was definitely a mental and just physical growth for me.”
Fast forward to now and see Laylay Fantroy transferred to Texas Southern in the offseason, and both Jaya McClure and Monica Williams have missed either the entire season or the large majority of the entire season. It became clear Boldon and co. were going to need players to step up and fill holes because of the injuries that plagued the team.
Baxter became a clear choice after receiving some minutes off the bench in the team’s first couple contests where she showed her ability to do the little things well.
“I have the hustle,” Baxter said. “I know I can go and box somebody out, play that post defense, just the little things that people overlook.”
After not seeing the floor much last season, Baxter’s willingness to be scrappy and do the little things to help her team win has been a huge part of her starting games in her sophomore year.
It wasn’t just her ability to be a glue guy for this Bobcat team this year that earned her a considerable increase in minutes. Her hard work in the offseason contributed massively as well.
According to her, it was specifically the three-ball that Baxter honed in this offseason.
“I always knew that I could shoot, but (my coaches) were like, okay, you need to shoot the ball,” Baxter said. “In high school, I was used to just driving in, doing all the bigger things, but when I got here, it was like, OK, we know you can shoot, so you need to shoot.”
Her work when it came to shooting this offseason earned her the increased role that she has had this season, a role that has changed and adapted to the team's needs as the season has gone on.
“I feel like at the beginning, (my role) definitely started off a little small,” Baxter said. “Now that I've stepped up to that starting position, it's definitely been way bigger. You got to get in there, you have got to drive, you have got to shoot, you have got to look for your teammates, you have to communicate on defense. They definitely expect a lot out of me because I’m very vocal on the court.”
After starting 20 games this season, her position as a leader has grown as well, with coaches and teammates needing her to be vocal on and off the court. The combination of her growth on the court as a player and leader has led to a boost in confidence for the young guard, a boost that is still growing as the season progresses, especially compared to last season.
“Last season it was really hard, just the confidence and everything was really hard,” Baxter said. “I'm still learning confidence today, but I definitely think that it has gotten way better, just because my coaches have put the step forward to help me in ways that I didn't know that I needed that help.”
As the confidence and comfortability on and off the court for Baxter grows, so will her role and success with Ohio. While this season has been a struggle as a whole for the Bobcats, Baxter and her development this season and into the future will be a key factor to watch moving forward.
