Ohio dropped its first Mid-American Conference game after falling behind in the second half.
If Ohio’s loss to Western Michigan is any indication of how Mid-American conference play will go for the Bobcats, it may be a long winter for coach Bob Boldon.
After Wednesday night’s 61-51 loss, Boldon seemed frustrated with the Bobcats, which shot just 19 for 53 from the field (35.8 percent) and allowed 39 points in the second half — 17 more than what they allowed in the first.
Junior guard Kiyanna Black led Ohio (10-3, 1-1 MAC) in scoring with 12 points, sophomore guard Quiera Lampkins had 10 points and junior forward Lexie Baldwin had nine points along with seven rebounds.
“We go back to Athens and we'll practice,” Boldon said. “We play a very good Toledo team in a couple days that's probably better than Western (Michigan). Hopefully we play a little bit better on Saturday."
After a 13-2 run in the first four minutes and a one-point lead at halftime, Ohio simply fell apart in the second half. The Broncos offense, led by Aj Johnson and Alex Morton’s 30 combined points, were fueled by 14 Bobcat turnovers and 50-percent shooting in the final 20-minutes of play.
Throughout the year, Boldon has reiterated that the Bobcats’ second half defense needs to improve and Wednesday’s nights performance proved that claim.
Western Michigan (9-4, 2-0 MAC) earned 14 points off Ohio’s turnovers and broke away from an offensive stalemate between the two teams after Morton hit a three-pointer with 4:20 left in the second half. With the lead up to six at that point, the Broncos never looked back, as they outscored the Bobcats 29-19 in the final 12 minutes of play.
In the first half, Ohio held an 11-point lead early on and never trailed once. Fouls, however were an issue early on, as Black, Lampkins, Baldwin and senior guard Mariah Byard all faced some foul trouble — disrupting fluidity for the Bobcats’ offense. Baldwin and Lampkins finished with four apiece, while Black and Byard finished with three each.
Ohio was called for 21 fouls, which was eight more than Western Michigan.
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