Ohio will play IPFW in its first home game of the season.
According to coach Bob Boldon, the Bobcats weren’t supposed to win a game in November. They ended the month 3-2.
Now entering the month of December, Ohio will face Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne at 11 a.m. Thursday morning with more momentum than its record implies.
Ohio earned wins against Indiana, Winthrop, and Florida Gulf Coast over the past two weeks, and senior guard Kiyanna Black has been integral in the Bobcats' recent success. She was recently named the MAC East Co-Player of the Week.
Come Thursday, Ohio could rely on Black’s scoring ability to get past IPFW. Fresh off of a 25-point game against Vanderbilt and a 17-point game against Indiana, respectively, Black is the obvious force in Ohio’s success through November.
But the season didn’t start as strong as it is right now.
Ohio had a relatively slow start to the season dealing with foul trouble and inconsistency, a contrast to its 6-0 start last season.
That is something Boldon said he is working to improve through the season. With the whistle being blown more frequently this year, his team has had the losing end of foul trouble, which was especially prevalent during Ohio's win against Indiana when Black picked up four fouls early in the third quarter.
Ohio will look to get some of those calls back in its first regular season game in The Convo.
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IPFW (3-3) is battling a three-game losing streak, as its most recent loss came from a Mid-American Conference foe, Western Michigan.
"When you lose early in the year," Boldon said. "You generally bounce back with a lot of energy going into the next game. I think they'll be really excited to play us. I think they'll come out and play hard against us."
Defending a team that can shoot the ball well is something Ohio faced against Florida Gulf Coast and IPFW could be no different.
"I think the biggest thing is sticking to your principles and playing hard," Black said.
The Mastodons are averaging 45 percent shooting from the field, an advantage over the Bobcats' 36 percent clip through their first five games.
Now that the most difficult part of the schedule is out of the way, Boldon and his team have seemingly solved their nagging problem of a lack of second quarter efficiency.
The Bobcats have struggled during the second period so far this season, only scoring 69 points through five games. But it has turned things around since the Akron Classic. Against Vanderbilt, the Bobcats outscored the Commodores 17-13 on Nov 28.
Now it’s up to consistency as Ohio hopes to look past the loss to Vanderbilt and regroup in The Convo.
"Whether it's Indiana, Vanderbilt or IPFW, the thing is you have to do what you have to do and play hard every night, no matter who the opponent is," Black said.
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