FOLLOW OHIO WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Akron, OH – The Ohio women's basketball team (2-9, 0-1 MAC) stayed on the road this week to face the Akron Zips (9-2, 1-0 MAC) in their first conference game of the 2022-23 season. The Bobcats fought hard, but came out behind 64-73. Ohio was led by Yaya Felder who dominated the offense with 22 points, followed by Abby Garnett with 18. In terms of defense, Jasmine Hale led the Bobcats with 6 rebounds, and closely behind was Kate Dennis with 5.
In the first ten minutes of play, Akron came out as an offensive threat with two immediate jumpers to make the score 0-4 in minute one. Ohio's Jasmine Hale responded with a defensive steal which led into a layup from Yaya Felder to give the Bobcats 2 points on the board. Akron then went on a 8 point scoring run before Yaya Felder hit another layup and Abby Garnett went back to back on the boards to bring the score to 8-12. Jaya McClure also contributed to Ohio's scoring in the first quarter with a jumper and it was Jasmine Hale and Cassidy Lafler who recorded steals for the Bobcats increasing their chances to optimize on offense. The first quarter came to a close at 12-16.
The second quarter started with a layup from Yaya Felder to get the game within 2 points at 14-16. The Bobcats held onto the 14 points until Felder drove in with another layup at 7:43 in the second. Abby Garnett then assisted Felder with a three pointer to get her into double digits for scoring at 11. Jaya McClure and Abby Garnett also assisted on the Bobcat offense with 6 points from McClure and a big three from Garnett. Both also had defensive rebounds for the Bobcats, getting the score to 28-33 heading into the locker room.
To start the second half, Abby Garnett came out with five points in the first 90 seconds, proving to be an asset for the Ohio offense. Ohio also came out determined on the defense in Quarter 3 with rebounds from Kate Dennis and steals from Caitlyn Kroll, Yaya Felder, and Jaya McClure to force turnovers on Akron. Yaya Felder also grabbed an offensive rebound leading to a breakaway layup for Ohio. The score going into the fourth quarter was 44-53.
With Ohio only down by 9 going into the last ten minutes of play, Akron increased pressure on their defense which resulted in free throw opportunities for the Bobcats. Yaya Felder started the fourth quarter with two free throws, followed by a driving layup to force an and-one. Jasmine Hale was also a large force in the fourth quarter with multiple steals, defensive rebounds, and coming up with big three pointers and adding 8 points to her total of 10. The Bobcats got the game to 57-59 before the Zips ran away on the offense with MAC player of the week Regan Bass taking their lead.
The final score of the contest was 64-73 with Ohio going 26 for 67 (38.8%) on field goal attempts, 7-28 (25%) from the three point line and only seeing the line 6 times going 5 for 6 (83.3%) in free throws. The Bobcats also grabbed 32 rebounds, had 13 steals, and 15 assists.
Up Next:
The Bobcats will continue MAC conference play and return home to the Convocation Center on Saturday, Jan. 7th to play Kent State. Tipoff is set for 1pm and will be available to stream on ESPN3.
#OUohyeah
