Just over two weeks ago, Ohio suffered an embarrassing loss to rival Miami on the road in Oxford. The Bobcats put up a season-low 34 points in a dismal offensive performance, their worst of the season up to that point.
The offense was swamped with injury issues that held out players such as Jaya McClure and Monica Williams and looked clunky and slow. In an offense that doesn’t utilize on-ball screens, Ohio coach Bob Boldon’s players lacked cohesivity and, above all else, experience.
That game in Millett Hall was low for Ohio, and while the offense managed to improve marginally against Southern Mississippi and Central Michigan, it scored under 50 points in both games.
Heading into the game against Buffalo, time was not only running out on the season for Ohio but for the offense to show some signs of life before the year ended.
Sophomore guard Bailey Tabeling knew early that it was one of those days for her when it came to shooting the ball just after warmups.
“When we did our little drill, I missed I think only one,” Tabeling said. “Just in my mind, I was thinking today should be a good day.”
It certainly was for Tabeling, who poured in 19 points on seven of 10 shooting from the floor and five of seven shooting from 3-point range. Two of those five 3’s were from far beyond the 3-point line, causing The Convo to erupt.
Senior guard Kate Dennis also had a productive day against Buffalo, going four of four from the floor and two of two from 3-point range to score her 10 points on the day.
“We were just feeling it today, there are some days where you feel like you have the (hot) hand,” Dennis said. “It felt like we had some pretty good offense, moving, driving inside, kicking it out. I thought we had some good movement today.”
The movement contributed to the offensive performance Saturday, where Ohio shot 46.7% from the floor and 47.8% from three.
With the fantastic shooting, something had to be Ohio’s downfall in a 79-67 loss to one of the Mid-American Conference’s best teams in Buffalo, and Saturday it was the turnovers.
Ohio turned the ball over a whopping 31 times against Buffalo, eventually costing it a competitive game in blowout fashion.
“I thought we had a good effort,” Boldon said. “Unfortunately, the turnovers ended up being the death of us … when we didn't turn the ball over we looked really good. Unfortunately, those turnovers prohibited us from scoring and led to some easy runouts.”
Buffalo matched the number of Ohio’s 31 turnovers with 31 points off those turnovers, a backbreaking number for any team.
Despite the turnovers, Ohio’s offense flowed and looked smooth for the first time in weeks. Players got shots up in rhythm and found each other quickly for some open looks. The fight Ohio showed against a Buffalo team contending for a MAC title should instill some confidence in a Bobcats team heading for the final stretch of the season.
