Ohio (3-3) lost on the road to Davidson (5-3) in a tight 64-59 loss. The Bobcats shot a lot better than Davidson did, with splits of 37.5% from the field and 41.7% from three. Davidson's splits were much worse, shooting 31.6% from the field and 21.6% from three.
The free throw line was where Ohio lost the game, as it made 13 out of 19 free throws while Davidson made 20-23. Davidson also outrebounded the Bobcats, having a staggering 19 offensive rebounds to Ohio’s six. Davidson also had more defensive rebounds, totaling 27.
The first quarter of play started with Davidson getting the first two points, both from free throws by Katie Donovan. The Bobcats would have their first points of the game off a jumper from Aliah McWhorter and tie the game at three apiece with a made free throw from Bella Ranallo. The scoring would continue to be traded off for the rest of the quarter, with Ohio being able to take the lead with a score of 17-15 as the quarter ended.
Despite Davidson shooting poorly in the first quarter, only making four of its twelve shots, the Bobcats' fouling issues this game started early. Davidson got five points off of free throws compared to Ohio’s. Ohio also was tame on three-point shots in this quarter, as it only attempted three, the lowest amount through all four quarters.
Davidson quickly took the lead back from Ohio with the second quarter opening as Donovan drained a 3-point attempt, but Ohio answered back with two made free throws from Asiah Baxter. Ohio further cemented the lead with a 3-point swish from Bailey Tabeling, which made the lead four points.
Although in only a few more minutes of play, Davidson would once again have the lead with a close score of 24-23, showing that all the little things add up in the game. Any missed free throw could cost the lead with how close these teams were playing.
Davidson was able to keep this lead until the halftime buzzer, as the second quarter of play ended with a score of 33-31 with Ohio down two. Both teams shot well this quarter, but the rebounds were beginning to kill Ohio, as despite Davidson having a lot of missed shots, it also got a lot of second-chance opportunities from offensive rebounding.
With halftime over and the third quarter starting, Davidson went all out to extend its lead. Despite Ohio jumping out to an early 3-point lead, Davidson would end the quarter with a lead of 10. The big culprit of this was the free throw disparity between the teams. Ohio only shot four free throws for the entire third quarter, while Davidson shot 11 and also made all eleven of them.
Half of Davidson’s 22 third quarter points were scored off free throws, and that threw off Ohio’s momentum. For a team that usually forces a lot of turnovers, lots of fouls were happening. Davidson also shot very poorly in this quarter, going 1-12 on three pointers while Ohio went 3-7. The third quarter ended with the score being 55-45 and Ohio having a hole to dig itself out of.
Ohio wasn’t able to dig itself out of the hole fully, but it did make the game closer in the fourth quarter. McWhorter split a pair of free throws to give Ohio the first point of the quarter, but Davidson’s Kyra Bruyndoncx drained a 3-pointer to extend the lead by two points. This played off for the rest of the quarter, as Davidson let off the brakes and was able to coast to a 64-59 lead.
Despite how many free throws Davidson had attempted in the previous quarter, it took none in the fourth quarter. Those free throws added too much to the deficit, and Ohio fell to Davidson. The game contained 14 lead changes while also having 10 ties, showing the competitiveness between the two teams. With this loss, Ohio returns to The Convo this Friday to face off against UIC.
