For the first time all season, Ohio (6-19 overall, 4-10 Mid-American Conference) has strung together two straight wins and two straight quality performances.
The first game came against NIU in The Convo with a 74-70 win, and the second win came Saturday in the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron by a score of 70-62.
This was the second time the Bobcats and Zips faced off this season, with the first contest being a loss for the Bobcats at home in The Convo. This time, it was a much different game, with Ohio shooting the ball efficiently en route to a MAC win.
Even with the convincing win, the game started slow for Ohio, who at one point was down 16-3 in the opening quarter. Bailey Tabeling had 8 of Ohio’s 11 first-quarter points with two threes and a layup trying to keep Ohio in the game early. The Bobcats began the second quarter down 19-11, a rough opening quarter that didn’t bode well for the remainder of the game.
Ohio jumped out of the gate in the second quarter on a 7-0 run that got it back within a point of the Akron lead. The rest of the quarter was back and forth between the two in-state rivals, with both Asiah Baxter and Tabeling knocking down a pair of threes in the second.
The Bobcats found themselves up by a point in heading into the locker room after outsourcing Akron 20-11 in the second. This was a remarkable bounce back from a poor showing in the opening quarter.
The third quarter was more of the same, with both teams trading scores and the lead. It was again a lot of Tabeling, who ended the game with 16 points on 5-12 shooting from the field to go along with five assists.
Even with her strong performance, Tabeling didn’t lead the team in points Saturday, as it was Wake Forest transfer Aliah McWhorter who stuffed the stat sheet and had her best game in the green and white.
She was able to put up a game-high 18 points on perfect shooting from the floor, going 6-6, including hitting both of the triples she attempted. She was also four-of-five from the foul line and snagged four rebounds and a whopping five steals.
The duo of Tabeling and McWhorter kept the game tight as Akron’s Maddie Vejsicky also had an impressive day, scoring 16 points to combat the scoring from Ohio’s guard duo.
The fourth quarter is really where Ohio found its stride, scoring 25 points on the back of solid shooting from the free throw line, going 12-16 on free throws in the fourth quarter alone. Six different Bobcats got in on the scoring, making for a solid team win and an impressive final quarter to close out the game on the road.
Just four games remain for Ohio, but with the season winding down, the Bobcats have been clicking on both ends of the court, stringing together back-to-back wins in hopes of carrying the momentum through the final stretch.
