The Ohio women's basketball team concludes its regular season home schedule this week with games against Buffalo and Bowling Green. While the majority of players will be back in the green and white next winter, senior forward Ciara Iglehart will treasure these last two home games as a Bobcat.
After all, just the thought of being a Bobcat excited Iglehart when she traveled to Athens for her recruiting trip.
The teammates and coaches really made me feel at home
Iglehart said. I love The Convo and I like the color green so everything just fell into place.
A transfer student from Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, Calif., Iglehart fell into the starting lineup to open this season after averaging 16.1 minutes per game last year - her first year on the team.
She has done well in her new role, averaging nine points and just under five rebounds per game, good enough for third- and fourth-best on the team, respectively. She also scored in double figures nine times this season, including a career best 23-point effort against Western Michigan in January. Along with her increased production has come an increase in her role on squad, something she said she embraces.
This year I feel like I'm more a part of the team
Iglehart said. I've been able to help in a lot of areas.
Guard Simone Redd touted Iglehart's ability to help in all areas as a vital part to the team's success.
She's versatile
Redd said. She can play the wing and she can go inside. When she goes to the wing
she's a bigger guard
and when she goes inside
she's a smaller post player
so it helps create a lot of mismatches.
Coach Lynn Bria echoed Redd's statements, saying Iglehart brings whatever [the team] needs to the table every night.
She's all-purpose
Bria said. She does whatever we need her to do
and it's good to have a player like that.
With a young team like the Bobcats - four freshmen and three sophomores make up more than half the squad - it also is good for someone to fill a leadership role, something Iglehart has had to do this season.
I've had a lot of pressure about being the only senior on the team and being a leader
