Ohio (12-5, 6-1 Mid-American Conference) welcomed MAC rival Toledo (9-8, 4-3 MAC) to The Convo on Saturday for its Green Out Game presented by Turn It Gold. The Bobcats could not grab a lead the whole game and would go on to lose 75-66 to the Rockets.
“We’ve been getting out-rebounded these last couple of games,” junior guard Bailey Tabeling said. “Throughout the week and practice, (coach Bob Boldon has) been reiterating that we have to box out, we have to rebound.”
The first quarter started slowly for the Bobcats, making zero of their nine field goal shots and zero of their five 3-point shots. Their only points came from seven free-throw shots. The team had a total of nine turnovers. Meanwhile, the Rockets made seven baskets and one 3-pointer to give them a lead of 16-7.
“I think it did kind of limit us to what we wanted to do,” junior guard Asiah Baxter said when asked about how the team could not overcome their issues in the first quarter.
The Bobcats gained more momentum going into the second quarter, but still could not grab the lead. They put up 23 points in the quarter, much better than the seven points in the first. Toledo matched Ohio’s 23 points, with 21 points of its own, keeping a 37-30 lead over the Bobcats.
Rockets’ junior guard Ella Weaver put up 13 points in the first half, leading the team. For the Bobcats, forward Elli Garnett and guard Asiah Baxter had five points to end the first half.
To start the second half, Tabeling carried the offense, putting up 12 points to lead the team. The Bobcats were still getting out-rebounded 33-20 by the Rockets. Sophomore guard Faith Fedd-Robinson led Toledo with 13 points and five rebounds.
“I thought at times we were doing a nice job, but we had too many breakdowns,” Ohio head coach Bob Boldon said. “Part of our rebounding breakdowns came from players moving out of position when the shot goes up.”
Moving into the fourth quarter, the Bobcats got the closest to the lead they would get the whole game with a score of 63-57 after a free-throw from Tabeling. Ohio would make more shots, but all points would be answered by Toledo, leading to the Rockets’ 75-66 lead.
“The one way you can fix the rebounding is to drill it in practice, which is a scary initiative this time of year, especially with the number of players we finished the game with,” Boldon said. “By the looks of things, we could be down to seven players on Wednesday, and we need all seven of those players healthy.”
Both Garnett and sophomore forward Danni Scully left the game in the second half due to injuries and did not return to play.
Tabeling had 15 points overall for the Bobcats with sophomore guard Bella Ranallo adding 13. Ohio had a 36.7% field goal rate and a 29.6% 3-point rate.
For the Rockets, Fedd-Robinson had 16 points and sophomore forward Miriam Diala had 14. The Rockets as a team had 43 rebounds, with 31 coming defensively and 12 coming offensively. They made 48.3% of their field goals and 19% of their 3-pointers, only making four.
With the loss, Ohio moves to a record of 12-6 overall and a record of 6-2 in the MAC, keeping its third-place standing. Toledo now has a record of 9-8 overall and 4-3 in the MAC, staying in sixth place.
The Bobcats will play again on Wednesday, welcoming UMass to The Convo, while Toledo will also play on Wednesday against Kent State.
