# 2020–21 Ohio Bobcats women's basketball team

The 2020–21 Ohio Bobcats women's basketball team represented Ohio University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bobcats, led by eighth year head coach Bob Boldon, played its home games at the Convocation Center in Athens, Ohio as a member of the Mid-American Conference. This season was played during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As a result schedules were shortened and consolidated and most games were played without general fan attendance.
Ohio opened the non-conference slate of games with a win over Liberty and upset of national power Notre Dame. They were named NCAA Team of the Week for their first week effort.
They finished the season 15-10, 11-6 in MAC play. They finished 3rd overall in the MAC. They advanced to the semi-finals of the MAC women's tournament where they lost to Central Michigan. They received at-large bid to the WNIT where they lost to Clemson, defeated Fordham, and lost to Massachusetts. Ohio was led by their point guard Cece Hooks who was named MAC player of the year.

## Offseason
### Departures

Departures :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason |
| Katie Barker | 2 | G | 5'10 | RS-Junior | Cary, Illinois | Graduated |
| Amani Burke | 3 | G | 5'9 | RS-Senior | Cary, Illinois | Graduated, Exhasted Eligibility |

### 2020 recruiting class

Recruiting Class :
| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | High School | Hometown |
| Kate Dennis | 14 | G | 6'1 | Guilford | Rockford, Illinois |
| Kendall Hale | 22 | G | 5'8 | West Clemont | Cincinnati, Ohio |

## Preseason

Prior to the season Ohio was picked second in the MAC preseason poll. Cece Hooks and Erica Johnson were named to the preseason first team all-conference.

### Preseason rankings

MAC preseason poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Central Michigan | 142 (10) |
| 2 | Ohio | 128 |
| 3 | Ball State | 119 (1) |
| 4 | Buffalo | 108 (1) |
| 5 | Eastern Michigan | 94 |
| 6 | Kent State | 88 |
| 7 | Toledo | 71 |
| 8 | Northern Illinois | 42 |
| 9 | Miami | 41 |
| 10 | Akron | 39 |
| 11 | Bowling Green | 38 |
| 12 | Western Michigan | 28 |
MAC Tournament Champion: Central Michigan (6), Ohio (3), Buffalo (1), Ball State (1), EMU (1) Source

### Preseason All-MAC

Preseason All-MAC teams :
| Team | Player | Position | Year |
| Preseason All-MAC 1st team | Cece Hooks | G | Sr. |
| Preseason All-MAC 1st team | Erica Johnson | G | R-Jr. |
Source

### Award watch lists

Preseason award honors :
| Honors | Player | Position | Year |
| Nancy Lieberman Award | Cece Hooks | G | Sr. |
| Cheryl Miller Award | Erica Johnson | G | R-Jr. |
| Becky Hammon Award | Cece Hooks | G | Sr. |
| Becky Hammon Award | Erica Johnson | G | R-Jr. |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 25, 2020* 1:00 pm | | Liberty | W 76-72 | 1-0 | Convocation Center Athens, OH |
| Nov 27, 2020* 12:00 pm | | No. 22 Notre Dame | W 86-85 | 2-0 | Convocation Center Athens, OH |
| MAC regular season ||||||
| Dec 11, 2020 2:00 pm | | at Kent State | L 80-84 | 2-1 (0-1) | MAC Center Kent, OH |
| Dec 16, 2020 6:00 pm | | at Northern Illinois | W 77-67 | 3-1 (1-1) | Convocation Center DeKalb, IL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Dec 21, 2020* 12:00 pm | | West Virginia | L 79-88 | 3-2 | WVU Coliseum Morgantown, WV |
| MAC regular season ||||||
| Jan 2, 2021 1:00 pm | | Central Michigan | L 87-90 | 3-3 (1–2) | Convocation Center Athens, OH |
| Jan 6, 2021 5:30 pm | | at Miami (OH) | W 72-63 | 4-3 (2-2) | Millett Hall Oxford, OH |
| Jan 9, 2021 1:00 pm | | Toledo | W 85-66 | 5-3 (3-2) | Convocation Center Athens, OH |
| Jan 13, 2021 6:00 pm | | Ball State | L 86-88 $^{OT}$ | 5-4 (3-3) | Convocation Center Athens, OH |
| Jan 16, 2021 1:00 pm | | at Central Michigan | W 93-84 | 6-4 (4-3) | McGuirk Arena Mount Pleasant, MI |
| Jan 20, 2021 6:00 pm | | Buffalo | W 84-81 | 7-4 (5-3) | Convocation Center Athens, OH |
| Jan 23, 2021 12:00 pm | | at Western Michigan | W 69-63 | 8-4 (6-3) | University Arena Kalamazoo, MI |
| Jan 27, 2021 7:00 pm | | at Eastern Michigan | L 66-69 | 8-5 (6-4) | Convocation Center Ypsilanti, MI |
| Jan 30, 2021 1:00 pm | | Akron | W 85-55 | 9-5 (7-4) | Convocation Center Athens, OH |
| Feb 3, 2021 6:00 pm | | Kent State | W 85-70 | 10-5 (8-4) | Convocation Center Athens, OH |
| Feb 6, 2021 12:00 pm | | at Bowling Green | L 53-69 | 10-6 (8-5) | Stroh Center Bowling Green, OH |
| Feb 10, 2021 7:00 pm | | at Ball State | W 88-66 | 11-6 (9-5) | Worthen Arena Muncie, IN |
| Feb 13, 2021 12:00 pm | | Western Michigan | W 674-52 | 12-6 (10-5) | Convocation Center Athens, OH |
| Mar 3, 2021 6:00 pm | | at Akron | L 67-71 | 12-7 (10-6) | James A. Rhodes Arena Akron, OH |
| Mar 6, 2021 1:00 pm | | Miami (OH) | W 84-70 | 13-7 (11-6) | Convocation Center Athens, OH |
| MAC Women's Tournament ||||||
| Mar 10, 2021 6:50 pm | (3) | vs. (6) Ball State Quarterfinals | W 61-59 | 14-7 | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Cleveland, OH |
| Mar 12, 2021 12:30 pm | (3) | vs. (2) Central Michigan Quarterfinals | L 92-100 $^{OT}$ | 14-8 | Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Cleveland, OH |
| WNIT ||||||
| Mar 19, 2021* 2:00 pm | | vs. Clemson First Round – Charlotte Regional | W 65-60 | 14-9 | Bojangles Coliseum Charlotte, NC |
| Mar 20, 2021* 11:00 am | | vs. Fordham Consolation Round – Charlotte Regional | L 81-84 | 15-9 | Bojangles Coliseum Charlotte, NC |
| Mar 22, 2021* 4:00 pm | | vs. Massachusetts Consolation Final – Charlotte Regional | L 71-95 | 15-10 | Bojangles Coliseum Charlotte, NC |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Awards and honors
### Weekly Awards

Weekly Award Honors :
| Honors | Player | Position | Date Awarded |
| MAC player of the week | Cece Hooks | G | December 1 |
| MAC player of the week | Cece Hooks | G | January 12 |
| MAC player of the week | Cece Hooks | G | January 26 |
| MAC player of the week | Cece Hooks | G | February 2 |
| MAC player of the week | Cece Hooks | G | March 8 |

### Midseason awards watchlists

Midseason award honors :
| Honors | Player | Position | Year | Source |
| Becky Hammon Award | Cece Hooks | G | Sr. | |
| Becky Hammon Award | Erica Johnson | G | R-Jr. | |

### All-MAC Awards

Post-season All-MAC teams :
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| MAC Player of the year | Cece Hooks | G | Sr. |
| MAC Defensive Player of the year | Cece Hooks | G | Sr. |
| MAC 1st team | Cece Hooks | G | Sr. |
| MAC 3rd team | Erica Johnson | G | R-Jr. |
| MAC Honorable Mention | Gabby Burris | F | Sr. |
| MAC Freshman Team | Madi Mace | G | R-Fr. |
| MAC Defensive Team | Cece Hooks | G | Sr. |
Source

### National Awards

National Award Honors :
| Honors | Player | Position | Source |
| Honorable Mention All-American | Cece Hooks | G | |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | — | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |
| Coaches | — | —^ | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings. ^Coaches do not release a Week 1 poll.
Source