With 12 seconds remaining in Ohio’s game on Sunday afternoon game against Eastern Kentucky, the Bobcats felt like they had to score.
Ohio guard Erica Johnson brought the ball to the top of the 3-point line and found Kendall Jessing in the paint. Jessing held the ball and looked left, then right, before finding an open driving lane. She slipped past her defender for the easy layup.
The Bobcat’s bench, and those in attendance at The Convo stands, erupted because the Bobcats had just scored 100th point, a great way to cap off a 100-60 Ohio victory.
“We were so excited that Kendall (Jessing) hit that 100th point for us,” Cece Hooks said.
The bucket was Jessing’s only one of the day, compared to Hooks who led all scorers with 21.
For most teams scoring 100 points is an unrealistic dream. The Bobcats hadn’t done it since Feb. 20, 2016, at Akron. But the Bobcats are one of the top 10 scoring teams in the country, and they knew they could do it early.
“After the first quarter we had like 33,” redshirt freshman Kaylee Bambule said. “You want to hit 100, it’s fun, it’s exciting it gets your teammates wild up. I think after the first quarter we all had an idea of it.”
Hooks was in part of why the Bobcats were so aggressive offensively. After trailing by three to start the game, Hooks led the Bobcats on a 9-0 personal scoring run. She had no trouble getting taking the game over but her mentally was infectious.
“I came ready to play,” Hooks said.
The Colonels led for a mere 18 seconds. After Hooks’ run, everybody seemed to want the ball in their hands. Including Hooks, there were five Bobcats in double-digits.
But even though the Bobcats offense looked unstoppable, 100 points is a difficult milestone. They came into Sunday’s game averaging 90 points per game, but still had yet to reach the century mark. And entering the fourth quarter, with coach Bob Boldon resting his starters, it seemed like the Bobcats would fall short again.
That was until Bambule checked into the game.
Bambule doesn’t get a lot of minutes, but when she does, she can be a thorn in the side of a defense. She’s a 3-point specialist who knows how to find herself a great look.
“Whenever I see a point guard has the ball, I get to a corner as fast as I can,” Bambule said.
Eastern Kentucky found out quickly not to let Bambule in that corner, or to not let her have the ball in her hands. She was able to get to her spots and dropped four 3-pointers.
“I like to shoot threes,” Bambule said.
The performance will easily keep the Bobcats among the most high-powered in the country. It wasn’t something Boldon predicted coming into the season, but he hopes that it can continue.
“I don’t know when the last time we scored this many points,” Boldon said. “It’s unrealistic to sustain that but the idea and the concept should hopefully hold up for us.”
