Ohio (6-22 overall, 4-13 Mid-American Conference) fell in its final home game of the season at The Convo by a score of 75-56 to Western Michigan (12-16 overall, 8-9 MAC). Ohio played a very competitive first half, even taking the lead at halftime, before a rough third quarter derailed the team’s chance of winning.
The first quarter was a sign of things to come for Western Michigan, as it started the game shooting lights out from three, going four-of-five to start before finishing the first quarter 6-11 from behind the arc.
Even with the strong shooting from the Broncos, Ohio was able to on a quick 7-0 run to end the quarter thanks to some great defense from Bailey Tabeling and Anyssa Jones, who both jumped passing lanes for steals that turned into points, cutting the Bronco lead to just one by the end of the quarter.
To add to the 7-0 run at the end of the first, Ohio went on an 8-0 run to start the second quarter, making it a 15-0 run that gave Ohio a solid lead early in the second. It was again a defensive effort and solid shooting that got them the lead.
Anyssa Jones remained a pest on defense in the second quarter, getting steals that led to easy chances on the other end of the court.
A pair of threes from Gigi Bower and Kate Dennis added to the lead as Bower hit her first of what would be three triples on the day, taking them with no hesitation and showing some serious growth in confidence.
Senior guard Kennedi Watkins was another Bobcat that showed up big in the second quarter, going for 6 points with all of them coming from nice moves in the paint that got her high-percentage looks around the rim.
By the end of the quarter, Ohio had the lead going into halftime up by a point after a stellar quarter. After the hot start from Western, Ohio showed some real resilience going into the locker room up at the half.
"That's been the most common theme, maybe we haven't been good enough some nights, but we've never not cared about each other,” Ohio head coach Bob Boldon said. “That is, to me, what's made coaching this team so special.”
Unfortunately for the Bobcats, the third quarter went about as poorly as it could have. Ohio was outscored 21-7 in the third and after going into halftime with the lead, the third quarter ended with the Broncos having a substantial lead.
“We needed to make more plays in the second half,“ Boldon said. “We got ourselves in the game by being aggressive and active; in the third quarter we didn’t get a single steal or offensive rebound.”
The momentum that Western Michigan had gained in the third quarter was enough to put them over the top, as the Broncos cruised to a victory in the fourth, staying hot from the field and outscoring Ohio 15-9 in the final frame.
The second half was truly the downfall for the Bobcats, as they were outscored 36-16 in the last 20 minutes with those 16 points coming on 26.3% shooting from the field and 20% shooting from three.
The final game of the season for Ohio will be on Saturday in Muncie, Indiana as Ohio looks to get a win on the road against the MAC’s regular season champions in Ball State.
