Ohio (3-5) hosted the Indiana State Sycamores (4-5) in a crucial non-conference matchup for Ohio.
The Bobcats found themselves at an exciting point in their schedule coming into the game against Indiana State. The team walked into the Convo sitting at 2-5 on the year, with their two most recent contests being their toughest, with battles against Ohio State in Columbus and Syracuse at home. Following those games, Ohio would play a stretch against lighter non-conference competition, starting with Indiana State. If the Bobcats could take down the Sycamores, it would set them up greatly for the rest of their non-conference schedule and conference play, and they did just that, winning by a score of 65-62.
Ohio would find themselves down early in the opening frame until a nice display of outside shooting from Madi Mace and Kate Dennis. Mace, the team’s most consistent 3-point shooter this year, knocked down her 3-pointer from the right wing to bring the game back within 3. Dennis would bury a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to give the Bobcats the lead late in the first, a lead they would hold for the rest of the quarter as they finished the first 15 minutes leading 17-13.
The tale of the second quarter was the offensive droughts that plagued both the Bobcats and the Sycamores. Ohio could only shoot 6-16 from the field and couldn’t connect from 3 all quarter. Indiana State shot 6-15 from the field and 0-5 from three in the second frame of action. As points became hard to come by, LayLay Fantroy gave Ohio a much-needed energy boost with her play. Fantroy’s playstyle is ideal for a low-scoring scrappy game, and she was all over the floor in the second frame. Fantroy finished the quarter with six points and four rebounds and her defensive presence and energy helped the team keep their lead heading into the break.
Ohio went into halftime up only by a point and desperately needed a player to take over the game. Thankfully for the Bobcats, the third quarter was the Jaya McClure show. McClure scored 11 of her 21 total points in the third and did so by shooting 44% from the floor and 75% from three. She also didn’t turn the ball over once, which was a theme of the game as a whole for Ohio. The Bobcats have had severe turnover issues all season long, but against Indiana State, they committed a season-low 18 turnovers. McClure and taking care of the ball were two of the main reasons why Ohio had a 6-point lead going into the fourth.
Despite more shooting struggles in the fourth quarter, Ohio used the same formula of limiting turnovers and stingy defense to hold off Indiana State and pick a huge win. Their 3-point victory was good for their third win at home and a key victory before facing off against Butler and Bellarmine to finish their non-conference schedule.
