OXFORD — The Bobcats didn't need a dominant scoring performance from Quiera Lampkins to win. Hannah Boesinger proved that Saturday.
With Jasmine Weatherspoon out, Boesinger started and scored a season-high 17 points, extending Ohio’s win streak to four after its 79-62 win over Miami at Millett Hall.
“We knew that a big part of our team was missing so it took all of us to step rebounding, scoring wise, everything really,” Yamonie Jenkins said. “Me and Hannah really tried to fill that spot for Jas in order to walk out of here with a win.”
Coming out of halftime, Ohio opened up the third quarter on a 20-5 run, behind six points from Boesinger.
Between Boesinger and Jenkins taking over scoring in the early part of the third quarter, with 14 points collectively, it gave Ohio breathing room, after feeling strangled in the first half.
“In an ideal world, (coach Bob Boldon) would like us to play hard all four quarters,” Boesinger said.
But the message Boldon left them with was that it was up to the team to play hard and push the tempo in the second half.
Last game, Boldon talked about how he wants his team to play with more energy in the first and third quarter. When Ohio lacked energy in the first quarter, the team made up for it in the third quarter.
“We had a little bit more pace and a little more tempo,” Boldon said. “The ball didn’t move really well in the first half. Our process was slow in the first half. I thought in the second half we got back to our principles.”
Boesinger and Jenkins were the figure heads in kick-starting the second half spurt. Boesinger’s scoring performance kept a lot of pressure off Lampkins, which allowed her to help the team where it needed the most help — rebounding — especially without Weatherspoon, the starting center.
Early in the game, Miami slowed Lampkins, not allowing her any easy shots. She started the game just 1-11 from the field.
“Everybody’s trying to defend (Lampkins),” Boldon said. “I thought she got off to a poor start, and to her credit she ends up with a double-double and she’s just resilient like that.”
Lampkins finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds, her fifth double-double of the season.
But Boesinger carried the team, recording another double-double also and scoring significant points for the Bobcats.
“The last couple of weeks we’ve been better,” Boldon said. “I think we are playing good basketball now.
“If we were playing the way we were a month ago, we would have no chance next week. Now we have a chance and we have a stretch with really good teams, so we’ll see where we’re at in a couple of weeks.”
