The Bobcats opened their season with a 66-54 loss to No. 21 Syracuse on Tuesday in the Carrier Dome.
Ohio put the Orange on upset alert to open the game and led 22-10 after the first quarter. The Orange shook off the early season-opening nerves and took the lead before halftime.
Eventually, the Bobcats were too far gone as the Orange separated themselves and ended any chance of the upset.
Here are some key numbers from the loss:
17 - Cece Hooks led the Bobcats in scoring with 17 points. She did this while struggling from behind-the-arc, shooting 1-for-6 from the 3-point line. Nine of her 17 points came in the first quarter. Hooks also had nine rebounds and five assists.
14 - The Bobcats rattled off 14 unanswered points after the Orange scored the opening basket of the game and put Syracuse on upset alert in the first quarter. The biggest lead of the game for Ohio was 16 when Erica Johnson hit a mid-range jumper and put the Bobcats up 21-6.
9 - Syracuse went on a 9-0 run to open the fourth quarter. Ohio only trailed by five points heading into the final quarter, but the Orange run at the beginning of the final quarter extended the deficit to 14 with only 5:30 left. This run ended the Bobcats’ chances of upsetting the Orange.
22 - Ohio allowed Syracuse to grab 22 offensive rebounds. Coach Bob Boldon has been vocal about rebounding as a glaring weakness for the Bobcats and the Orange took advantage of that. Syracuse’s size advantage over the Bobcats allowed it second chances on offense that helped it pull away.
2 - Boldon has only lost two season openers, including Tuesday’s loss at Syracuse. The only other time came in 2015, when Ohio lost to Illinois 62-53. Ohio showed flashes of why it was voted to win the Mid-American Conference in the game with Syracuse, especially in the first quarter, but it couldn’t sustain the consistency to upset an AP ranked team.
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