With six and a half minutes left in the second quarter, the Bobcats only held a three point lead over IUPUI. The Jaguars were attacking the paint and getting easy layups to claw back into the game.
Ohio needed something big defensively to slow down IUPUI’s momentum.
As the Jaguars brought the ball up the court, their ball-handler felt instant pressure from Cece Hooks. That pressure turned into a steal for her, which she converted into an easy fastbreak layup on the other end.
On the next IUPUI possession, Ohio’s defensive aggressiveness forced another takeaway, this time by Erica Johnson. She poked the ball away from the Jaguar ball handler, secured the ball and got a quick layup for Ohio for the second straight possession.
The back-to-back steals forced the Jaguars to call a timeout and swung the momentum back in favor of the Bobcats. The layups created by the steals started a 10-2 run that gave Ohio’s lead more breathing room.
The Bobcats’ defensive effort was a guiding factor in their 70-64 win over IUPUI (4-4) on Saturday.
Ohio (6-2) got aggressive when it came to looking for steals in the game. The Bobcats attacked the passing lanes often and used the zone defense to try to force errant passes.
Hooks was a defensive leader for the Bobcats on Saturday, coming away with 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks against the Jaguars. When Johnson came off the floor in the second quarter due to a lower body injury, Hooks felt that it was important for her aggressiveness to be ramped up and take control on both sides of the court.
“I think I’ve been passive lately,” Hooks said. “I had to get back to the old Cece.”
Johnson was also having a strong game defensively before her injury, as she finished with four steals in just 12 minutes.
With Johnson missing the entire second half, the defense also played a crucial role in giving the offense time to find its footing while the Bobcats adjusted to missing one of their key players.
Coach Bob Boldon likes what he saw from the Bobcats as a whole defensively, but wishes they had opened and closed the game stronger.
“We had a slow start, we gave up too many open shots, but we corrected that,” Boldon said. “We got a little sloppy in the fourth quarter, that was frustrating. But overall, I thought we did a really good job.”
Ohio did start to unravel a little in the final period, as they held a 12 point lead in the fourth, but allowed the Jaguars to cut it to just a five-point game with under three and a half minutes left. The Bobcats forced key turnovers late, however, including two traveling violations to make sure that the Bobcats won their final home game of 2019.
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