OXFORD — Coach Bob Boldon stood outside the visitor’s locker room searching for answers in Millett Hall.
Just three days earlier, he watched his Bobcats beat Northern Illinois by forcing turnovers and sinking a season-high in 3-pointers.
But the offensive outburst and Mid-American Conference win felt longer than three days ago on Saturday. The Bobcats couldn’t connect on shots and struggled defensively in their 64-55 loss to Miami.
“We just weren’t good,” Boldon said.
And after making 15 3-pointers as a team — eight by guard Katie Barker — against NIU, the Bobcats shooting went cold, as it has much of the season. Barker, who was the leading scorer against NIU, scored zero points and attempted just one shot in 14 minutes.
Ohio shot just 35.4 percent from the field and only knocked in five 3-pointers as a team. Dominique Doseck, who scored a team-high 18 points, had four of those 3s. Alexis Stover made the other.
Boldon hoped for a carry-over effect from his team against Miami after the shooting performance earlier in the week, but it never came to fruition.
“I hoped that it did,” Boldon said. “We’re a terrible shooting team. There’s no two ways about it.”
While the offense struggled to find ways to score, the Ohio defense looked discombobulated at times; Miami took advantage of it. Lauren Dickerson, the MAC’s leading scorer, scorched the Bobcats with 27 points. She shot 50 percent from the floor.
Although the Bobcats forced 27 turnovers, Miami appeared as the aggressor, picking up loose balls, fighting for rebounds and out-hustling the Bobcats for much of the game. The Redhawks had 50 rebounds, 16 of which were offensive; the Bobcats had 30 total.
“I would say there’s nothing that we could take away from this game that we did well,” Boldon said.
For Ohio (11-9, 5-4 MAC), the one possible takeaway is how not to play against a rival; Miami (12-8, 4-5 MAC) outplayed the Bobcats in “The Battle of the Bricks.” The response from the Bobcats, however, will have to wait a week. Ohio doesn’t play again until Feb. 3., which gives it a bye week at an optimal time — just in time for the final month of the regular season.
“Sometimes when you get smacked like this on the road,” Boldon said. “You realize, 'Oh boy, we really do have to get better.' … The bye week probably comes at a good time for us.”
