Ohio Bobcats women's basketball

The Ohio Bobcats women's basketball team is an intercollegiate varsity sports program of Ohio University. The team is a member of the Mid-American Conference East Division competing in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The Bobcats have played their home games in the Convocation Center since 1973.

Ohio Bobcats
2019–20 Ohio Bobcats women's basketball team
University	Ohio University
Head coach	Bob Boldon (8th season)
Conference	Mid-American East Division
Location	Athens, Ohio
Arena	Convocation Center (Capacity: 13,080)
Nickname	Bobcats
Colors	Hunter Green and White[1]
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1986, 1995, 2015
Conference Tournament Champions
1986, 1995, 2015
Conference Regular Season Champions
1986, 1995, 2015, 2016
Conference Division Season Champions
2015, 2016, 2019, 2020

History

Ohio University’s women’s basketball program began its unofficial debut in 1965. It was created by the Women’s Sports and Recreation Department (WRA) chapter of Ohio University. The team, led by Bev Smith, competed for 8 years before they became a part of the Women’s Intercollegiate Athletics (WICA) organization. This marked the beginning of funding from athletics as opposed to education.[2]

Upon its official debut, the women’s basketball team played their first game in the 1973–74 season. The Bobcats have won three Mid-American Conference tournament titles in 1986, 1995, and 2015. They have been MAC regular season champions four times, most recently in the 2015–16 season. They have clinched a spot in the NCAA Women's Tournament three times, in which they have gone 0–3, most recently appearing in the 2014–15 season.[3]

The Bobcats most notable season came in 1985–86. The team went 24–2 in the regular season, with a 16–2 record in the MAC. They won their first MAC season and tournament titles, as well as setting eight school records that are still held as of 2016. Their coach, 23-year-old Amy Prichard, became the first Ohio head coach to be awarded the honor of the MAC Coach of the Year.[3]

The Bobcats’ current head coach is Bob Boldon. Boldon played college basketball at Walsh University from 1993–97. After debuting during the 2013–14 season, Boldon’s team posted a record of 9–20. During his second season at Ohio University, he led the Bobcats to their first winning season since the 2007–08 season.[4] Boldon led the team to the MAC championship, clinching a spot in the 2015 NCAA tournament. The team lost in the first round to Arizona State, by a score of 74–55.[2] In the 2018-19 season the Bobcat's won 30 games being the first team in Ohio history between both men and women's programs.

Seasonal Results

as of 01/14/2021

Mid-American Conference Year Overall Rec. Conference Rec. 1973–74 10–5 NA 1974–75 12–5 NA 1975–76 3–12 NA 1976–77 8–7 NA 1977–78 5–8 NA 1978–79 11–8 NA 1979–80 10–12 NA 1980–81 6–20 NA 1981–82 9–16 3–7 1982–83 15–13 11–7 1983–84 14–14 13–5 1984–85 11–16 6–12 1985–86 26–3 16–2 1986–87 10–16 7–9 1987–88 10–18 5–11 1988–89 8–20 5–11 1989–90 9–18 3–13 1990–91 10–18 6–10 1991–92 11–17 5–11 1992–93 13–14 10–8 1993–94 17–10 13–5 1994–95 23–7 15–3 1995–96 16–12 11–7 1996–97 12–15 9–9 1997–98 17–11 13–5 1998–99 4–22 2–14 1999–00 11–17 6–10

Mid-American Conference Year Overall Rec. Conference Rec. 2000–01 9–20 5–11 2001–02 13–16 7–8 2002–03 9–19 5–11 2003–04 13–15 7–9 2004–05 13–16 8–8 2005–06 9–20 5–11 2006–07 18–12 9–7 2007–08 20–13 10–6 2008–09 13–18 7–9 2009–10 8–22 4–12 2010–11 9–22 4–12 2011–12 14–18 6–10 2012–13 6–23 1–15 2013–14 9–21 4–14 2014–15 27–5 16–2 2015–16 26–7 16–2 2016–17 22–10 12–6 2017-18 16-15 9-9 2018-19 30-6 14-4 2019-20 19-11 11-7 2020-21 5-4 3-3

Postseason results

NCAA Tournament results

The Bobcats have appeared in three NCAA Tournaments. Their combined record is 0-3.

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1986	#9	First Round	#8 Illinois	L 69-68
1995	#14	First Round	#3 Washington	L 73-57
2015	#14	First Round	#3 Arizona State	L 74-55

Women's National Invitation Tournament results

Ohio has been selected to participate in three Women's National Invitation Tournaments. Their combined record is 5–3.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2016	Round 1	Marshall	W 76–68
	Round 2	Virginia Tech	W 64-57
	Round 3	Temple	L 75-61
2017	Round 1	Penn State	L 74-65
2019	Round 1	High Point	W 81-74
	Round 2	Middle Tennessee	W 59-57
	Round 3	Western Kentucky	W 68-60
	Quarterfinals	Northwestern	L 61-58

Coaching staff

Name	Position	Year	Alma mater
Bob Boldon	Head Coach	2013	Walsh University Indiana University 1997, 2003
Tavares Jackson	Assistant Coach	2013	University of Minnesota Crookston 2000
Marwan Miller	Assistant Coach	2016	Franklin University 2012
Steph Haas	Assistant Coach	2018	Florida Gulf Coast University 2016
Tia Jameson	Director of Basketball Operations	2014	Ohio University 2005

Bobcat basketball traditions

Ohio is a tradition-rich school, and many of those traditions are associated with athletics events, especially basketball. Some Ohio traditions include:

• Rufus the Bobcat – The school mascot, a fierce yet friendly looking Bobcat that always sports an Ohio jersey with a number "1" on the back.
• Ohio Varsity Band – The pep band which performs at every basketball game.
• "Stand Up and Cheer" – Ohio's fight song
• "Alma Mater, Ohio" – Ohio's alma mater song

Coaches

Head Coach	Period	W-L Record	Win %	MAC Championships
Nancy Schaub	1973–1977	33–29	.532	N/a
Kathy Martin	1977–1978	5–8	.385	N/a
Gwen Hoover	1978–1981	27–40	.403	N/a
Becky DeStefano	1981–1984	38–43	.469	0
Amy Prichard	1984–1990	74–91	.448	1
Marsha Reall	1990–1999	123–126	.494	1
Lynn Bria	1999–2006	77–123	.385	0
Sylvia Crawley	2006–2008	38–25	.603	0
Semeka Randall	2008–2013	50–103	.327	0
Bob Boldon	2013–present	154–78	.664	2
TOTALS	1973–present	619–666	.482	3

Source: Ohio Basketball Media Guide

As of 01/14/2021

References

1. "Colors – Ohio University". Retrieved September 26, 2017.
2. "Quick Facts" (PDF). grfx.cstv.com. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
3. "Ohio Bobcats" (PDF). Ohio Bobcats. Ohio University. 2010. Retrieved January 31, 2016.
4. "Bob Boldon Bio - OHIOBOBCATS.COM - Ohio Official Athletic Site". www.ohiobobcats.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 31, 2016.

External links

• Official website