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ATHENS, Ohio — The Ohio women's basketball team (1-2, 0-0 MAC) earned its first win of the season with a 52-40 victory over George Washington (2-2, 0-0 A10) on Saturday, Nov. 16 in the Convocation Center.  

The Bobcats grabbed a total of 42 rebounds including 32 defensive rebounds. Ohio's defense forced 19 turnovers and scored six points off them. Ohio also recorded 12 steals.  

 Individually, the Bobcats were led by senior  Kate Dennis (Rockford, Ill.) who had a career-high 15 points; finishing five-for-eight from the field, two-for-five from the arc and three-for-three from the line. Sophomore  Bailey Tabeling (Seymour, Ind.) also contributed 12 points, a career-high nine rebounds and three steals. Graduate student Aliah McWhorter (Cincinnati, Ohio) added seven points, two assists and one steal. Graduate student Anyssa Jones (Westerville, Ohio) also added six points and snagged two steals.  

GW won the tip, but a steal from Tabeling kept them off the board early on. Both teams played aggressive on defense to keep each other off the scoreboard, both scoreless for almost the first three minutes of the game. Jones put the first points of the game up after drawing a foul under the rim, going 2-for-2 at the stripe. Ohio kept its momentum with a layup by Dennis assisted by McWhorter and a three-point jumper from Tabeling. GW had back-to-back layups to tie the score, but Ohio finished the quarter with a second chance layup from McWhorter and an exciting buzzer beater three-point jumper by sophomore Asiah Baxter (Indianapolis, Ind.).  

GW opened the quarter with back-to-back layups, but sophomore Monica Williams (Indianapolis, Ind.) snagged a steal to assist Tabeling to a driving layup to keep Ohio in play. A deep three-point jumper by Dennis put Ohio further ahead of GW by nine points. Out of the media timeout, Jones had back-to-back layups to keep Ohio ahead. Both teams traded baskets, but GW closed the score gap six points against Ohio. Going into the locker room, Ohio led 24-18.  

Ohio had possession to begin the second half and got on the board first after Williams went 2-for-2 at the free throw line. Dennis added to the board with a three-point jumper assisted by Tabeling, allowing Ohio to lead by 10. Freshman Gigi Bower (Powell, Ohio) furthered Ohio's lead going 2-for-2 at the stripe after drawing a foul. Ohio played a strong defense and GW's only points on the board were three free throws during the first five minutes of play in the quarter. GW didn't score its first basket during regular play until almost six minutes into the quarter. Dennis kept Ohio ahead with a layup and a free throw. Ohio finished the quarter with a nine-point lead going into the final quarter of the game.  

Back-to-back scoring from Dennis and Tabeling to set Ohio ahead by 14 forced GW to call a timeout early in the fourth quarter. For almost two minutes of play, both teams kept each other off the board. GW broke the score drought with a jumper, but Tabeling responded with a driving layup assisted by Williams to force GWU to call a timeout. Out of the timeout GW managed to get a few baskets on the board, but Ohio still led by 10. Ohio held a lead until the end of the quarter, defeating GW 52-40.  

Ohio will be back in action at home in the Convocation Center on Nov. 20 against the Ohio State Buckeyes. The game can be viewed on ESPN+ and tip-off is set for 7 p.m.  ET. 
  
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