Ohio (1-1 overall) struggled in its home opener against Columbia as it lost the game 92-74 and earned its first loss of the season. Outside of the first few minutes of the game, Ohio was chasing Columbia throughout the rest of the day.
The Bobcats started the game strong on both sides of the ball. Offensively, they were doing a great job of passing the ball into the paint for the easy layup, and defensively, they weren’t letting Columbia into the paint without some solid resistance.
Ohio took an early 9-3 lead, but after that, it all fell apart. The Bobcats got their lead by playing the passing game and finding easy shots, but after they got a lead, it seemed that the game plan switched up.
Ohio started shooting the ball, it drained their first three of the game, and then after that, it had some serious offensive struggles. Defensively, after the Bobcats’ good start, they exhausted themselves, which allowed Columbia to get going offensively.
A mix of bad shooting and poor defense led Columbia to go on a 9-2 run to take the lead. The momentum from that Columbia run helped them catapult to a 23-18 first-quarter lead.
Ohio’s shooting problems got worse in the second quarter as it missed easy chances that would’ve been crucial to getting back in the game. At the same time, Columbia’s guard Riley Weiss started getting hot as she finished with 13 first-half points.
With Weiss heating up, Columbia would extend its lead to 10 points at the end of the first half.
Ohio needed a good third quarter to climb out of its deficit, and unfortunately for the Bobcats, this would be their worst quarter. Columbia’s defense was absolutely dominant in this quarter, as the Bobcats didn’t score their first points in the half until almost six minutes in.
The Lions' offense was very consistent as well. This quarter was absolutely dominated by Columbia as it outscored Ohio by 16 to end the quarter with a 76-50 lead.
“Our third quarter is just something that we struggle with,” said guard Aliah McWhorter when asked what her takeaways were from the game.
The Bobcats tried to fight in the final quarter of the game, but the deficit was just too much. They were able to get Columbia’s lead down to almost 15, but the Lions wouldn’t let up at all. It was a great way to end the game for the Bobcats with a last-minute push, which they can hopefully bring into their next game. The Bobcats would fall to Columbia 92-74.
Overall, Columbia took advantage of Ohio’s missed shots, and it was especially able to take advantage of the Bobcats' fouling, as 30% of their points came from free throws.
The Bocbats are back in The Convo this Tuesday against Morehead State as they try to get back in the win column and pick up their first home win of the season.
