2024-25 Ohio Women's Basketball Season Preview
11/2/2024 3:55:00 PM | Women's Basketball
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ATHENS, Ohio — The Ohio women's basketball team is set for the 2024-25 season.
There are several new nonconference teams Ohio did not face last season on the schedule as well as a few familar foes. Ohio is set to travel to St. Louis and to UIC in the first half of the season. Ohio will also face Ohio State at home November 20 and then travel to Georgia December 28.
Other nonconference opponents for this season include Georgia Southern, Bellarmine, George Washington, Wright State, Ohio Christian and Butler. Ohio will face most of the nonconference opponents at home.
"The first (game) is always the most exciting one," head coach Bob Boldon said. "Coach Jackson put together a bunch of home games, which it's fun to play at home and then I think even some of the road trips. Kennedy (Watkins) is from St Louis, and it was a goal to try to get her back to home, so I'm excited to go to St. Louis and spend some time with her family in St. Louis. We play in Chicago right before Christmas, and that's a time that is a kind of a cool time to be in Chicago. There's some there's some trips outside of the basketball that I think could be a good life experience for the kids."
From there, the Bobcats will start their Mid-American Conference Schedule. In the preseason coaches' poll, they were tied to finish at No. 6
"I'm really excited about having a lot of games at home for our nonconference schedule," junior guard Kate Dennis (Rockford, Ill.) said. "Home games are always so much fun I'm really excited about our Northern Illinois game because that is also close to home for me. I'm really excited for just every single game I'm excited to get started playing... I'm just looking forward to every game with my teammates."
Ohio starts MAC play against Akron on January 1 in The Convo. It will not face Akron again until late February while on the road. Ohio's first road game is on January 4 at Northern Illinois.
The Bobcats aren't sure where their MAC schedule is going to take them yet, but they're excited for the amount of home games on the schedule for this season.
Ohio returns with one of its top performers from last season, junior Jaya McClure (Louisville, Ky.). McClure ranked second on the team in points (278), field goals made (99), snagged 56 rebounds and recorded 35 steals. As a sophomore, she played in 22 and started in 17 games, amassing a total of 662 minutes. McClure also ranked first on the team for assists.
Even with the return of McClure and several other veterans, Ohio is a different team this season. There are five new student-athletes on the roster and one returning from injury. Ohio added two graduate transfers to the team this year, former Ohio State and Dayton guard Anyssa Jones (Westerville, Ohio) and former Wake Forest guard Aliah McWhorter (Cincinnati, Ohio).
Making her return for the 2024-245 season is senior Aja Austin (Westerville, Ohio) who sat out last season due to injury.
Boldon is excited to see how the team comes together with the combination of returners, transfers and freshman.
"We have a little bit of everything," Boldon said. "I'm interested to see how it all kind of comes together on Monday, our first game, but more so when we start back playing January and see what we can become between now and then."
Dennis noted that the team has be close during the preseason and the team bonded quickly with each other. She's proud of how fast they've come together and believes that they'll be able to face any obstacle that comes their way.
With the team having such a close bond, Dennis hopes it shows on court during the season.
"We do have new faces, but I think that the new people that are coming in are coming from so many different backgrounds, which makes it I think it makes it better, because we have people with experience," Dennis said. "… I think that we have just a lot of different dynamics that really balance each other out well. So yes, we do have some new faces, but it doesn't feel as new as last year."
Boldon said a lesson he is going to carry over from last season is patience takes time. There are going to be obstacles, but the goal for Ohio is to play its best basketball in March and there are many ways to get there. Boldon said he hopes to be in Cleveland this season to give the team a chance to win the tournament.
"We had a lot of great talent, but this group, this year is so close, I think that's something that's very hard to teach," Dennis said. "It's something that you are just in, and everybody contributes to that environment. I think that's something that I've learned that that's one of the hardest things to have, and it's one of the hardest things to tear apart. It gives me a lot of hope going into the season that we're a very tight knit group, and I hope that translates to our success throughout the season."
Single game tickets for Ohio women's basketball can be purchased now. For tickets, call 740-593-1300 or click here.
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