Ohio beat Florida Gulf Coast and Winthrop this weekend in Akron to pick up its first two wins of regular season.
Ohio coach Bob Boldon was a little hard on his team when he said the Bobcats might not win a game in November.
After stumbling against Illinois to start the season — if losing to a Big Ten team is considered "stumbling" — Ohio won its next two games, sweeping its competition at the Akron Classic this weekend.
After a 69-57 win against Florida Gulf Coast on Friday, Ohio glided past Winthrop 75-54 on Saturday, led by senior guard Kiyanna Black’s 23 points.
“She shot the ball well,” Boldon said. “I thought her teammates did a good job getting her shots. I thought KB’s shot selection was terrific. There wasn’t a bad shot that she took.”
Black was 5-for-12 from beyond the arc and 8-for-15 from the floor. But the more impressive 3-point shooter on the day for the Bobcats was freshman guard Dominique Doseck, who was 4-for-6 and finished with 12 points. The dozen points were the first of her collegiate career.
“It feels good to win,” Boldon said. “I thought we had kind of a sluggish first half and it was nice to see us respond. It was a tough turnaround. It’s short preparation. And then there’s an emotional let down when you go from playing a team as successful as Florida Gulf Coast to a team we saw lose the night before.”
Ohio’s win Friday, its first of the 2015-16 season, also included breakout performances from juniors Yamonie Jenkins andJasmine Weatherspoon.
Jenkins, who’s quickly assimilated into the team’s main point guard to bring the ball out of the backcourt, had 18 points, a career-high.
Weatherspoon also had a career-performance, achieving her first double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
Her execution on the boards will be one of the key components for Ohio throughout the season, now that the Bobcats finally have the height they lacked in Boldon’s first two seasons coaching the program.
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Ohio’s effectiveness rebounding continued Saturday afternoon.
While Weatherspoon only had five rebounds, senior forward Lexie Baldwin mustered 10 and redshirt freshman forward Kelly Karlis had nine.
With a quick break until after Thanksgiving, the Bobcats’ next game will be Friday, Nov. 27 at the Vanderbilt Thanksgiving Tournament against Indiana.
Junior guard Taylor Agler, who has to sit out this season, transferred from Indiana during the summer.
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