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ATHENS, Ohio – In its Mid-American Conference opener, the Ohio women's basketball team (4-7, 1-0 MAC) outscored Akron (5-6, 0-1 MAC) 35-23 in the second half to take the lead and secure a 67-58 win in the Convocation Center on Wednesday night.
Ohio had a small shake-up in its lineup with senior guard Peyton Guice (Westerville, Ohio) making her first start since the 2020-21 season.
"When Payton is out on the court, vocally, the leadership and the presence that she brings, is camaraderie and gets everybody together," senior guard Kennedi Watkins (Ballwin, Mo.) said.
Watkins started the Bobcats off with a 5-0 run in the first 30 seconds of the game. The Bobcats' speed set the tone for the rest of the quarter as the two teams traded points until the buzzer sounded at 20-20.
Watkins made an impact the rest of the game, too. She co-led the Bobcats in scoring with a season-high 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting. Watkins also scored double-digit points for the sixth time this season.
Her co-leader, Freshman guard Bailey Tabeling (Seymour, Ind.), blazed a trail for the Bobcats in the third quarter with 11 points, nine of which were on 3-pointers. Tabeling currently leads the MAC in 3-point percentage with a 51.5%.
"We talked today at shoot-around and pregame that we no longer get to say that we're a young team. We played a full nonconference schedule and we played an array of teams. We played some really good ones, we played some not so good ones, and we won some and lost some," head coach Bob Boldon said. "We've got plenty of experience at this point to move on from that baggage and just say now that we're college basketball players. I thought they did a great job of doing that and handled a good basketball team."
Akron threw Ohio for a loop in the second quarter. Ohio committed three turnovers during a scoring drought that lasted over four minutes, which gave its opponent the lead. However, Ohio took over after back-to-back 3-pointers from freshman guard Monica Williams (Indianapolis, Ind.) and junior guard Kate Dennis (Rockford, Ill.) Despite the small shift, Akron jogged to the locker room with a three-point lead at the half.
Three pointers were a common theme throughout the game. As a team, the Bobcats had their best team performance from beyond the arc since November. Tabeling's efforts were aided by Williams's two 3-pointers and one each from Dennis, senior guard Bengisu Alper (Istanbul, Turkey) and sophomore guard Jaya McClure (Louisville, Ky.)
The Bobcats' offense held strong throughout the game. Williams co-led the team in rebounds with redshirt junior guard Madi Mace (Parkersburg, W. Va.), both tallying six each in the team win. Mace also had two steals
"A lot of people do things so that other people can score, and sometimes it's just talent that scores, but a lot of times, especially in our offense, it's a combination of people working together and doing their job," Boldon said. "(Akron) didn't leave Madi very much a creative space for other people to do things. It just had some tremendous screens. It didn't want to leave and it got people open. The best thing about Madi was that if she saw the stat line she would be thrilled with it, because we won and that's what's important. I think that is becoming contagious with our young kids and it's why it's been so nice to have her back."
Ohio will be back in action on Jan. 6 at Kent State. Tip off is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be available to watch on ESPN+.
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