After four straight losses in conference play for Ohio (5-10, 2-4 Mid-American Conference), it returned to The Convo for its first home game of the university’s spring semester. Back in Athens territory, the team faced off against Eastern Michigan (5-11, 2-4 MAC) and came away with a 72-62 victory in which it dominated the game on both ends, especially defensively.
For Eastern Michigan, the main facet of its offensive attack is 6-foot-3-inch center Tayra Eke, who leads the team in points, blocks and field-goal percentage. From the start of the first quarter, the Bobcats’ gameplan was clear: deny Eke the ball, and they did so at an expert level.
Seemingly every time an Eastern Michigan player attempted to throw an entry pass into the post for Eke, the Bobcats sent a second player to the ball and disrupted the pass. The results painted this portrait as clear as day, as Eke finished with 6 points on 1-of-3 shooting and the Bobcats forced 26 total turnovers.
“(Eke) was shooting 60% coming into the game, and I thought our kids did a good job of neutralizing that,” Ohio Coach Bob Boldon said. “I was very pleased with the way we guarded a kid that’s as skilled as she is.”
Despite the phenomenal defense the Bobcats played on Eke, the Eagles were able to chip away at the leads they faced throughout the game. Kennedi Myles, the 6-foot-2-inch forward Kennedi Myles led the way for Eastern Michigan in scoring with 16 points on an efficient 6-of-9 shooting from the field. Although the game ended in a 10-point loss for the Eagles, they matched the Bobcats in both field goals made and 3-point jumpers made.
So what made the difference? Free throws. The Bobcats made it to the line for 30 free-throw attempts, their season high. Freshman guard Laylay Fantroy led the way, both in free throw attempts and scoring with Monica Williams, going 8-of-9 from the line and securing possessions for the Bobcats on the offensive boards.
The Bobcats dominated the game in terms of physicality, getting to the line, securing possessions on the glass, and taking charges on would-be interior scorers.
“We knew it was going to be a physical game,” Boldon said. “You can either lean into it or shy away from it and today they leaned into it.”
The Bobcats benefited from huge performances all around, featuring a career-high in assists for redshirt junior guard Madi Mace with seven, as well as one of Williams’ best games of the season and Bailey Tabeling’s continued lights-out shooting.
This kind of physicality-dominated game is what the Bobcats needed to get back on track, but they were not without the help of their home atmosphere, as the Bobcats improved to 5-3 in The Convo.
“Playing here is awesome, the environment is awesome; it’s always been awesome,” Boldon said. “I’ve been impressed with this environment since the day I stepped on campus. This is a special place.”
