Hours after being announced Mid-American Conference East Player of the Week for the second-straight week, Quiera Lampkins needed to repeat her recent success against Big Ten competitor, Michigan.
Her success, and as a result, the team's success, would not only add a quality win to the team's resume but also keep the team unbeaten, 8-0 for the second time in program history.
She and the Bobcats didn’t.
But it was more than Lampkins having an off game that hurt Ohio on Tuesday night. Ohio fell to Michigan 69-46 in the Crisler Center.
Nothing went right for the Bobcats offensively.
Ohio’s biggest struggle was missing easy layups. Ohio shot just 24 percent in the first half, making just seven baskets, two of them three pointers and the rest free throws, which earned 21 points.
The offensive struggles carried through the second half as well.
“Michigan did a good job at taking some things away from us, and I’m not sure that we responded in a way that we hoped we would have responded,” coach Bob Boldon said after the game.
It an unappealing game for Ohio.
Defensively, Ohio started strong but faltered in the third quarter. Michigan, a team that averages over 100 points a game, was held to just 27 points at half. The Bobcats forced Michigan to 16 turnovers in the first half as Michigan held onto a slim, six-point lead.
The third quarter is when things went awry for Ohio.
Michigan’s Katelynn Flaherty scored 13 of Michigan’s 19 third quarter points, which gave the Wolverines a 21-point lead going into the final quarter.
The Bobcats allowed Michigan to get offensive rebounds, which resulted in second chance points. In addition to the defensive collapse in the second half, Ohio couldn’t make its free throws.
Ohio (7-1) was never able to bounce back from its first half performance.
When the Bobcats needed her most, Lampkins wasn’t able to carry them. Michigan came prepared to stop Lampkins, and though she finished with 15 points, it managed to cool her down from her last game.
For the Bobcats, it was the first loss of the season. They have about a week before their next game, meaning there will be a lot of time for Boldon to work with his team on offensive consistency, something it lacked Tuesday night.
“I’d hoped coming in it would be a better basketball game,” Boldon said. “But it wasn’t. They beat us pretty good today. The nice thing about it is whether you win this game or lose this game, you still have plenty of work to do before conference play.”
