Ohio won both its games against St. Bonaventure and Lamar in the Denver Thanksgiving Classic last weekend at Hamilton Gymnasium in Denver, Colorado, to continue its undefeated start to the season. The Bobcats are 5-0 for the third time in the last five seasons.
Here are three takeaways from the two games.
Offense stays hot
Coach Bob Boldon wasn’t sure if Ohio’s offense would continue its torrid start to the season into its first two road games. The Bobcats were 10th in the nation in points per game and ninth in field-goal percentage after their first three games at The Convo.
But the offense proved those first three home games were not a fluke — it outscored both opponents by an average of 26 points over the weekend and showed consistency in its first road test of the season.
Three players — Dominique Doseck, Gabby Burris and Cece Hooks — reached double-digit point totals in Friday’s 70-53 win over St. Bonaventure. The same three players, plus Amani Burke and Deesh Beck, totaled double-digit points in Saturday’s 87-62 win over Lamar.
Despite the heavy offensive totals, Ohio (87.8 points per game) actually slipped back to 18th in the nation’s points per game leaderboard but stayed put in ninth at field-goal percentage (50.2). The Bobcats are also 14th in the nation in scoring margin with an average difference of 28.4 points per game.
Burris’ career-best weekend
Whatever food Burris had on her plate for Thanksgiving on Thursday — it worked.
The sophomore led the Bobcats with 43 combined points in their two wins, including her first career double-double (25 points, 10 rebounds) on Saturday to break her career-high of 23 points set in Ohio’s first game of the season.
After another pair of dominant games, Burris has established herself as one of Ohio’s most versatile threats. She averaged 10.2 points per game last season and started 10 of the Bobcats’ 31 games, but she’s taken full advantage of starting spot in the lineup this season.
Burris is second on the Bobcats with an average of 15.8 points per game, first with 31 rebounds and has missed only two of her 24 free throws this season.
Bench supplies support
Ohio’s massive offensive outputs have allowed Boldon to give extended minutes to his bench players, specifically freshman, early this season.
Nearly each player who’s benefited from more playing time has made the most of it. Kaylee Bambule took advantage of her time off the bench on Nov. 18 and scored 12 points in 15 minutes against Eastern Kentucky. Erica Johnson has averaged 11 points per game despite only starting once.
On Saturday, it was Deesh Beck’s turn.
The true freshman registered a respectable 10 points in her career-high 23 minutes of playing time against Lamar. The 5-foot-9 freshman also grabbed 12 rebounds and went 3-for-4 from the free-throw line.
Beck is the only true freshman to receive playing time on Ohio this season, and her quality performance off the bench shows Boldon has plenty of options to utilize if he needs to reach into his team’s depth.
What’s next
Ohio will enjoy a week of rest before returning to The Convo to play Cleveland State on Saturday at 1 p.m.
