When evaluating men's basketball teams at midseason, comparing performance to the preseason poll with projected finishes is usually helpful. These polls are often used to show that a team exceeded or failed to meet certain expectations.
With Ohio women's basketball, it's much more difficult to measure the expectations, because the Mid-American Conference only releases the top three finishers in the preseason poll. But it's easy to see there have been some ups and downs for the Bobcats so far this year.
One of the biggest surprises this season has been the play of freshman Angel Hornsburger. The former McDonald's High School All-American nominee has dazzled fans, coaches and players with her ball-handling skills.
She's just really done excellent on defense and as far as offense; she's really helped our offense along
forward Erin Isbell said.
Going into Tuesday's game against Akron, she led the team in steals and was second on the team in assists. Hornsburger also has shown flashes of her scoring ability, recently dumping in a career-high 15 points against Marshall in her MAC debut.
Ohio coach Lynn Bria said coming into the season, she thought Hornsburger might struggle at times.
You know I thought she'd be a real typical freshman and just be a rollercoaster and I'm not saying she still doesn't sometimes lose focus
but overall I would never guess she's a freshman
Bria said.
Bobcat fans will definitely keep an eye on the emerging star for the rest of the season.
Even though Hornsburger has been the team's biggest surprise thus far in the season, Bria said that a surprise that is pretty close to that would be the growth of Isbell.
Just in regards to her trying to complete her game
trying to be more of an offensive threat
and just really coming around as a player
Bria said.
Heading into last night's game against Akron, she led the team in rebounds, corralling 6.7 per game.
She had three double-doubles this season in a span of four games with her season best 14-point, 11-rebound performance coming against Northern Illinois.
Some of the biggest disappointments for the Bobcats have been sporadic play and not playing with a sense of urgency immediately. In their last game against Northern Illinois, the Bobcats were down 39-34 at the half but came out slow in the second half. The Huskies then went on a 15-2 run to open the second half and held off the Bobcats' late charge for a 78-71 victory in Dekalb, Ill. This is one of the goals for the team for the second half of the season.
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