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ATHENS, Ohio –Softball season is finally here, while men's basketball is back in Athens and wrestling honors its seniors for a Grudge Match Senior Day! Check out everything that's ahead for Ohio Athletics in this week's Paw Prints.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Feb. 4 / vs Western Michigan / Athens, Ohio / Convocation Center / 7 p.m. ET / ESPN+ / Watch / Listen / Live Stats / Digital Guide / Tickets
*90's Night
Feb. 8 / vs Appalachian State / Athens, Ohio / Convocation Center / 2 p.m. ET / ESPN+ / Watch / Listen / Live Stats / Digital Guide / Tickets
*Sibs Weekend and Neon Night
The Ohio men's basketball team (11-10, 5-4 MAC) is back in action this week for two games in Athens. Ohio opens the week on Tuesday, Feb. 4 when the Bobcats welcome Western Michigan (7-14, 4-5 MAC) to town. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center and can be seen on ESPN+. Ohio is back in the Convo on Saturday, Feb. 8 for the second game of the MAC-SBC Challenge when Appalachian State comes to town. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m inside the Convo and can be seen on ESPN+.
Ohio is coming off back-to-back loses by a combined seven points. Redshirt Sophomore AJ Brown helped lead the Ohio men's basketball team this week. Overall, Brown averaged 18.5 points a game, while shooting .500 from the field, .364 from three and went 9-of-10 from the line. He added 5.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 0.5 steals, while averaging 27.2 minutes a game. On Jan. 28 against Toledo, Brown tied a season-high with 22 points and grabbed a career-high eight rebounds. Brown went 8-of-13 from the field, 3-of-6 from three and dished out two assists. Then on Feb. 1 at Miami, Brown scored 15 points, going 4-of-11 from the field, 1-of-5 from three and 6-of-7 from the line, while grabbing three rebounds, dished out one assist and had one steal.
Western Michigan enters the matchup with a 7-14 overall record and a 4-5 mark in MAC play and is coming off a 61-54 win over Eastern Michigan on Saturday. App State is 13-9 overall and will take on Southern Miss. on Saturday before heading to Athens.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
Feb. 5 / at Central Michigan / Mount Pleasant, Mich. / McGurik Arena / 6:30 p.m. ET / ESPN+ / Watch / Live Stats
Feb. 8 / at Southern Mississippi / Hattiesburg, Miss. / Reed Green Coliseum / 3:30 p.m. ET / ESPN+ / Watch / Live Stats
Ohio women's basketball (4-16, 2-8 MAC) is back in action this week for two road games. Ohio opens the week on Wednesday, Feb. 5 when they head to Mount Pleasant, Mich. to take on Central Michigan (8-13, 4-6 MAC). Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. inside McGuirk Arena and can be seen on ESPN+. Ohio then heads to Hattiesburg, Miss. for the second game of the MAC-SBC Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 8 to take on Southern Miss (8-14). Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. ET inside Reed Green Coliseum and can be seen on ESPN+.
Graduate student Anyssa Jones is coming off a week that saw her score a career-high 25 points against MAC-leading Ball State on Wednesday in Athens. Jones went 9-of-16 from the field and 4-of-5 from three, while also grabbing nine rebounds.
Central Michigan enters the matchup with an 8-13 record and a 4-6 mark in MAC play and is coming off a loss against Bowling Green at home on Saturday. Southern Miss is 8-14 overall and is coming off a home loss to Troy on Saturday and will take on Georgia Southern on Wednesday before hosting Ohio.
SOFTBALL
Feb. 6 / at Elon Softball Classic / vs. NC Central / Elon, N.C. / Hunt Softball Park / 11 a.m. ET / Watch / Live Stats
Feb. 6 / at Elon Softball Classic / vs. Elon / Elon, N.C. / Hunt Softball Park / 1:30 p.m. ET / FloCollege / Watch / Live Stats
Feb. 7 / at Elon Softball Classic / vs. UConn / Elon, N.C. / Hunt Softball Park / 11 a.m. ET / Watch / Live Stats
Feb. 8 / at Elon Softball Classic / vs. UNC Greensboro / Elon, N.C. / Hunt Softball Park / 11 a.m. ET / Watch / Live Stats
The Ohio softball team (0-0) opens the 2025 season this week when they head to Elon, N.C. for the 2025 Elon Softball Classic Feb. 6-8 at Hunt Softball Park. Ohio opens the season on Thursday, Feb. 6 when Ohio takes on NC Central (0-0) at 11 a.m., before returning to action later in the day to take on host Elon at 1:30 p.m. Ohio is then back on the diamond on Friday, Feb. 7 when they take on UConn (0-0) at 9:30 a.m., before wrapping up the weekend on Saturday, Feb. 8 against UNC Greensboro (0-0) at 9:30 .m.
Ohio is coming off a 31-24 2024 season and an 18-8 conference mark that saw the Bobcats finish second in the MAC standings. Ohio returns All-MAC performers, Skipp Miller, Mikie Lieving and Izzie Wilson, while welcoming nine new faces to the roster.
NC Central finished last season 20-36, while Elon finished 2024 with a 23-29 record. UConn went on to finish last season with a record of 31-24, while UNCG went 33-26 last season.
WRESTLING
Feb. 7 / vs Kent State / Athens, Ohio / Convocation Center / 7 p.m. ET / ESPN+ / Watch / Live Stats / Digital Guide / Tickets
*Senior Day
The Ohio wresting team (6-3, 4-1 MAC) wraps up their home slate on Friday, Feb. 7 when Ohio hosts Kent State (1-12, 0-5 MAC) for the Grudge Match. The dual is set to begin at 7 p.m. inside the Convocation Center and can be seen on ESPN+. Prior to the start of the dual, Ohio will honor its seniors in a pre-match ceremony.
Ohio is coming off a 18-16 victory over Central Michigan in Athens on Sunday afternoon. Ohio collected again in the 165-pound bout. Redshirt sophomore Jack Lledo overtook Chandler Amaker in a tight 4-2 decision for three more team points. Redshirt junior Garrett Thompson tacked on four points himself with a 13-1 major decision over Alex Cramer. Redshirt freshman Jeremy Olszko rounded out the barrage with a 5-1 decision over Adrien Cramer for three points as well.
CMU enters the matchup with a 1-12 record and an 0-5 mark in MAC play. The Flashes are coming off a loss against Clarion on Jan. 26.
TRACK AND FIELD
Feb. 8 / at Gem City Invitational / Dayton, Ohio / Steemer Center / 2 p.m. ET / Meet Information / Meet Schedule / Live Results
The Ohio track and field team is back in action on Saturday, Feb. 8 when they head to Dayton, Ohio for the 2025 Gem City Invitational hosted by Dayton. The meet is set to begin at 2 p.m. at the Steemer Center.
Ohio is coming off a successful weekend at the Akron Invitational and the Meyo Invitational. In Akron Ohio had two athletes place in the top three of the women's 800m. Sophomore Abby Wells placed second (2:19.70) and junior Sophie Besett placed third (2:19.78). Freshman Elyana Weaver finished ninth with a PR of 2:24.07 and freshman Ava Tominak finished in 13th place. Meanwhile, in South Bend, Junior Allie Martin led the Ohio women's track & field team on day two of the Meyo Invitational with a new indoor school record in the women's mile. Martin placed 10th with a personal-best time of 4:46.64.
WOMEN'S GOLF
Feb. 9-11 / at 2025 Advance Golf Partners Collegiate / Palm City, Fla. / Hammock Creek GC / All Day / Live Results
The Ohio women's golf team opens the spring portion of its schedule on Feb. 9-11 at the 2025 Advance Golf Partners Collegiate hosted by UNCG at the Hammock Creek GC in Palm City, Fla. The three-day event will see the Bobcats play 18 holes each day beginning on Sunday and wrapping up on Tuesday.
Competing in the event is; Virginia Tech, Merrimack, Georgia State, Little Rock, East Tennessee, Memphis, Lipscomb, App State, Southern Illinois, Elon, Arkansas State, UNCG, Towson, Bryant, Ohio, Morehead State, Jacksonville State and Bucknell.
The Bobcats last competed Oct. 21-22 at the Dayton Flyer Invitational where they placed third overall, while junior Mackenzie McRee led the Bobcats with a tie for fourth place.
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