For as rare as victories against the Big Ten Conference have traditionally been for them, the Ohio women’s basketball team sure made this one feel anticlimactic.
The Bobcats (9-1) finished the first half with a five-point flurry and never looked back, cranking up their defense and holding the visitors from Illinois to 10 points over the next 14 minutes, all while scoring 37 points themselves.
That defense-to-offense combination turned what had been a precarious one-point lead into a healthy 64-36 advantage and, eventually, into a relatively easy 80-68 win.
“It helps quite a bit when we get our transition game going,” said Ohio coach Bob Bolden.