Entering the year with a new coach and almost an entirely new team, Ohio is ready to turn the page after ending last season with its worst Mid-American Conference campaign in program history.
Ohio finished the 2012-13 season with a 6-23 overall record, including just one MAC win, but the Bobcats are hoping for improvement after not renewing former coach Semeka Randall’s contract.
Instead, Ohio hired Bob Boldon as the program’s tenth coach, hoping that he could take the team out from the conference basement.
“We’re just trying to get a little better each day,” Boldon said. “This whole team is kind of like newcomers with a new coach. There’s a lot of new stuff and a lot to learn. It’s felt like a lot of freshman on the floor.”
Boldon also hinted at installing a more up-tempo style of offense once the team can get its fundamentals down.
“We would like to play tempo as soon as possible,” Bolden said. “The faster we can play the ball without turning the ball over, we’ll do that.”
Ohio, which was projected to finish fifth in the MAC East in the preseason coaches poll, will start the season Nov. 10 when it hosts Xavier at The Convo.
From that point on, the Bobcats will have a difficult non-conference schedule that includes playing No. 12 Louisville, which made it all the way to 2013 Final Four.
At the end of November, the Bobcats travel to the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico for a pair of games, matching up with University of Illinois at Chicago and No. 10 Maryland.
Guards Erin Bailes and Olivia McCuskey are the lone seniors returning this season for the Bobcats. Bailes averaged 10.6 points per game last season and led Ohio with a team-high 54 three-pointers.
“Our returners have been very receptive to the coaching,” Boldon said during the weekly MAC coaches teleconference. “They’ve done a great job trying to learn and my coaches have done a great job trying coach.”
Another notable returner for Ohio is sophomore guard Kyanna Black. Last season she was the Bobcats’ third-leading scorer, averaging 9.6 ppg, as she went on to earn All-MAC Freshman Team recognition.
Another notable returner is junior guard Mariah Byard, who averaged 6.3 points per game, coming off the bench for Ohio, as she battled injuries throughout the season.
A major factor for Ohio’s success will be its health.
The Bobcats were plagued with injuries last year and at times struggled for depth on the bench, and even resorted to adding walk-ons to the roster in the middle of the season.
While they might lack a lot of size on the boards, Ohio makes up for it with their abundance of guards on the team.
Boldon is hopeful that his newly installed up-tempo style can start from the guard’s play in transition, but is aware it’s going to take some time for the players to adjust.
“It’s going to be quite a challenge,” Boldon said. “We can’t get there now. We need to become more efficient on offense and more stingy on defense.”
gh181212@ohiou.edu
@charliehatch_
