ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio women's basketball team (12-6, 6-2 MAC) fell 75-66 to Toledo (9-8, 4-3 MAC) on Saturday, Jan. 24 in the Convocation Center.
"I thought at times we did a nice job, but we had too many breakdowns," head coach Bob Boldon said. "Part of our rebounding breakdowns came from people being out of position when the shot went up, and then we're out of position to rebound. We certainly need to address that and do a better job of rebounding."
As a team, Ohio made 22 shots from the field, including eight threes. On defense, the team forced 24 turnovers and recorded nine total steals. On the boards, Ohio grabbed 28 rebounds, including 20 on the defensive end.
Junior guard Bailey Tabeling (Seymour, Ind.) shared the team lead in scoring with 15 points to go along with two blocks and two assists. Redshirt sophomore guard Bella Ranallo (Lake Forest, Ill.) joined Tabeling with 15 while also contributing three rebounds and two assists. Junior guard Asiah Baxter (Indianapolis, Ind.) led the Bobcats in rebounding with four, while also contributing eight points.
"Toledo is a good team, they had a great game plan, and coming into it kind of took us by surprise," Tabeling said. "We haven't seen that kind of defense this year…It was just kind of difficult to try to adapt in the middle of the game. We talked to coaches at halftime and timeouts, whatever it was, and we just tried to find our way to the rim."
Baxter got the scoring started for the Bobcats, drawing fouls on back-to-back possessions and converting on three of her four free-throw attempts. Ohio scored all of its first-quarter points from the free-throw line as it entered the second period trailing 16-7.
Antonicia Moultrie (Nassau, Bahamas) jump-started the Bobcat offense in the second quarter with a three-point jumper on the team's first offensive possession. Ohio would continue to find success from the field in the period, scoring on four straight possessions to bring the deficit to just two at 21-19.
Ohio made three threes and scored 23 points in the second quarter as they entered halftime with a 37-30 deficit.
Tabeling got the Bobcats on the board first in the second half as she converted an and-one to bring the Bobcats within four. Despite a nine-point quarter for Tableing, the Toledo offense remained consistent, building its lead to 58-49 heading into the game's final quarter.
Ohio would outscore Toledo in the final quarter, but it was too little too late to overcome what was a 10-point deficit entering the fourth. The Rockets beat the Bobcats, 75-66.
Up next, the Bobcats return to the Convocation Center for a matchup with UMass on Wednesday, Jan. 28. That game will tip off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+. The first 200 students will receive free Chick-Fil-A.
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