After Ohio was upset in the Mid-American Conference Tournament in March, coach Bob Boldon said he wouldn’t watch the NCAA Tournament selection show.
Despite winning the conference regular season title outright, there was no reason to get hopes up — Ohio’s only shot at the tournament rested on winning a conference title.
But Boldon cheated his promise, and during the selection show, he glanced at the TV long enough to read Ohio was one of the last four teams to miss the NCAA Tournament.
With that in mind — or at least the country’s acknowledgement of how serious the Ohio women’s program can be — Boldon created the toughest schedule Ohio’s played in recent history ahead of the 2016-17 season.
Maybe that’s a sign of overconfidence, or maybe it’s a sign that better teams are willing to play Ohio without fearing their RPI will drop.
Either way, the Bobcats will play two Big 10 opponents this season — at Michigan (Dec. 13) and Illinois (Dec. 22) at home — during the nonconference portion of the schedule. The Illini will be the first Big 10 team to visit The Convo since 2004.
The matchup with Michigan will resume for the first time since 2007 — when Ohio went on to play and lose in the MAC Tournament championship game.
Soon to enter his fourth season as Ohio's coach, Boldon took over the program following the worst season in team history. The Bobcats went 6-23.
By the end of his second year, Boldon led Ohio to a 27-5 record, won the MAC outright for the first time since 1986 and played Arizona State in the NCAA Tournament.
But the 2014-15 team is different from the 2016-17 group. For starters, Boldon and the Bobcats will have to replace Kiyanna Black. Black is second all time in points scored in program history.
Ohio is also without Lexie Baldwin, one of the team’s main threats in the post.
On the plus side, the 14-15 team that relied heavily on sophomores has transformed into a senior core that could threaten for another conference title.
Quiera Lampkins, who was named the Defensive Player of the Year last season, returns as a guard/forward hybrid. Offensively she averaged almost 15 points per game and five rebounds.
Yamonie Jenkins returns as the point guard, who averaged seven points per game to go along with her 99 assists a season ago.
With a core intact, the Bobcats just need to put the pieces together.
Their first regular season game to do so will be Nov. 13 at High Point.
gh181212@ohio.edu
