In Quierra Lampkins’ return, Ohio defeated Tennessee-Martin 72-55 on Friday afternoon. Here are three takeaways.
Starting lineup set
The return of Lampkins brought a new starting five from coach Bob Boldon. Lampkins replaced Hannah Boesinger from last week’s starting five to go with Yamonie Jenkins, Taylor Agler, Kelly Karlis and Jasmine Weatherspoon.
The new lineup scored 23 of Ohio’s 39 first half points but mucked its way through a 16-point first quarter on 6-for-18 shooting. Ohio got the open shots it wanted in the first quarter. They just didn’t fall.
The new starting lineup with Lampkins has a chance to be awesome. Three trustworthy ball handlers, excellent floor spacing and capable defenders at every position should yield dominant stretches eventually.
Friday, however, the starters were off their game.
Slow first halves
Ohio is outscoring opponents by 38 points in the second quarter but only by eight in the first.
Stagnant starts might sink the Bobcats against better competition, but Boldon attributed the slow starts to the difficulty of preparing for teams in a young season. UT Martin, for example, played its third different starting lineup in four games against Ohio.
The biggest reason for Ohio’s slow start Friday afternoon was a lack of penetration. The ball moved crisply around the key, but there was no one forcing the defense to help inside.
In the second quarter, Ohio found success penetrating along the baseline and hitting open shooters who quickly moved the ball to the next open player. The Bobcats looked like they had figured something out.
As the season progresses, Boldon said scouting will become less of an imperfect craft. Hopefully for Ohio, that will translate to better first quarters.
Rebounding numbers misleading
The Bobcats out-rebounded the Skyhawks by three on Friday, much to Boldon’s surprise.
Boldon said he was as surprised about winning the rebounding battle as he was with his team being perfect from the free throw line.
Understandably so, because Ohio gave up 19 second-chance points, and unlike the High Point game, the damage was not mostly done in garbage time. UT Martin only snatched three of its 14 offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter. For the undersized Bobcats, the rebounding issues are not under control, much like the defensive rebounds themselves.
