Ohio's rapid success can be attributed to coach Bob Boldon.
When Bob Boldon was announced as the new women’s basketball coach March 28, 2013, he inherited a basketball team that had just finished its worst season in school history.
Ohio went 6-23.
“He has successful head coaching experience, has rebuilt programs and has won wherever he has been,” Ohio University Athletics Director Jim Schaus said. “A new era of Ohio women’s basketball is here.”
At the time, Boldon had just transformed Youngstown State from its worst season (zero wins) to its best in three years.
Before that, he led Lambuth, a junior college in Tennessee, to its best season in program history.
Schaus was right in saying a new era of Ohio hoops was beginning.
While the previous coach, Semeka Randall, would skip out on postgame interviews with the media, Boldon would attend them and be brutally honest describing his bad basketball team.
In his first season in Athens, the Bobcats went 9-21, including a 10-game losing streak. Technically, it was a three-game improvement on the year prior.
Then the 2014-15 season rolled around.
Ohio began winning games with regularity. Were players over performing? Was it coaching?
Suddenly that 10-game losing streak flipped to a 10-game winning streak.
The Bobcats were the Mid-American Conference regular season champions. They also won the conference tournament and had their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1995.
Boldon was named the MAC Coach of the Year and signed a five-year contact extension to 2020.
With 27 wins, Ohio had its best season in school history.
Now what?
Boldon and the Bobcats confirmed last season wasn’t an accident, but could they do the same in 2015-16? After all, the team lost its two starters and captains: Kat Yelle and Mariah Byard.
Instead of trying to replicate last season’s success, Ohio is en route to surpassing last year’s historic achievements.
This season hasn’t been about building on last year. It has been about building for the future.
For the first time in Boldon’s reign, he can play whom ever he wants, not just who’s healthy or hasn’t fouled out.
“Minutes are legitimately earned,” he said. “I only put in people I can trust.”
Sure, it’s a simple statement, but it’s a new phenomenon to a program that saw winning as a phenomenon four years ago.
Barring something unexpected, Kiyanna Black and Quiera Lampkins can be expected to finish the season with first-team all conference honors. In fact, both can probably be considered for the MAC Player of the Year shortlist.
The Bobcats are arguably playing better basketball than last season. At the time of publication, they’re also on an 11-game winning streak, surpassing the two streaks from the two previous seasons.
Basically, the team is on pace to become the winningest in program history. Again.
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And if all goes as planned, Ohio could make consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.
Schaus was right about a new era for women’s basketball. Now it’s only a matter of shattering last year’s ceiling.
@charliehatch_
gh181212@ohio.edu
