ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio women's basketball team (18-14, 11-7 MAC) concluded its season with a 62-58 overtime loss to UMBC (17-14, 10-6 America East) in the first round of the WNIT on Thursday, March 19 in the Convocation Center.
Ohio shot 33.9 percent from the field, 27.6 percent from the arc and 54.5 percent from the line. The Bobcats finished with 41 rebounds, 10 assists, 14 steals and one block.
Junior
Bailey Tabeling (Seymour, Ind.) scored a team-high 14 points while graduate student
Elli Garnett Lakewood, Colo.) added 11 points. Tabeling and Garnett led the team in rebounding, grabbed six boards each. Junior
Asiah Baxter (Indianapolis, Ind.), Tabelng and Garnett tallied a team-high two assists a piece. Baxter and Garnett also finished with a team-high four steals each.
Tabeling got the scoring started for the Bobcats, as the two teams tried to find their rhythym on offense. Both offenses got off to a slow start. At 4:21 left in the quarter, Ohio only led UMBCA 9-4. The Bobcats and the Retrievers drained back-to-back three pointers as the quarter came to an end. At the end of the first, Ohio led UMBC 12-8.
The Bobcats kicked off the second quarter with a 15-2 scoring run. With 2:57 left on the clock, Ohio had extended its lead over UMBC to 27-10. Heading into the locker room, the Bobcats held a 29-16 lead over the Retrievers.
UMBC responded with a strong performance in the third quarter, outscoring Ohio 20-11. With 1:41 to go in the third, the Retrievers had cut the Bobcats' lead to two points. Ohio led UMBC 40-36 heading into the fourth quarter.
Ohio got off to a hot start in the fourth quarter with back-to-back three pointers by Garnett and Baxter. UMBC tied the game at 46-46 with 3:23 to play. With 1:03 left on the clock, the Retrievers took a 50-46 lead over the Bobcats. A layup by Tabeling and two successful free throws by junior
Antonicia Moultrie (Nassau, Bahamas) tied the game at 50-50 with nine seconds to play. The score remained tied at 50-50, forcing an overtime period.
The Bobcats would ultimately fall to the Retrievers, 62-58, in overtime.
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