Ohio (15-10 Overall, 9-5 Mid-American Conference) traveled 125 miles north to take on the Akron Zips (7-19 Overall, 4-9 MAC), as it tried to continue its hot conference streak and win its fourth MAC game in a row. Little did the Bobcats and Zips know, they would soon be engulfed in one of the craziest games of the season, as the two teams would be tied at triple digits with seconds left in the game.
Akron’s strong defense, plus Ohio’s poor shooting, helped the Zips jump out to an early lead in the first-quarter. Akron was also playing well on the other side of the ball with a shooting percentage of 58%. Their offensive success came from their ability to mix up their shot selection, with 40% of their shots being 3s, and 60% being 2-pointers.
Akron’s strong defense and versatile offense led them to have many opportunities to build a huge lead and run away with the game early, but junior guard Bailey Tabeling was fighting to keep Ohio in it. Tabeling had 9 points in the first-quarter, which all came from clutch 3s to help keep the Bobcats within striking distance.
Despite Tabeling’s strong efforts, Ohio’s poor shooting and Akron's dominance on both sides of the ball led them to have a very comfortable 12-point lead at the end of the first-quarter, 26-14.
Ohio’s first-quarter performance and second-quarter performance were completely night and day. The Bobcats went into the second-quarter down by 12 and with little momentum, but they were finally ready to start playing to their full potential. Ohio absolutely dominated this half as they outscored Akron 18-4 to miraculously go into halftime leading.
On the defensive side, the Bobcats defense became very aggressive. This led to Akron turning the ball over eight times, and their shooting percentage dropped to an abysmal 11% as they went 1-9 from the field this half. On the other side of the ball, the Bobcats played great offense to complement their strong defensive performance.
Ohio shot the ball six more times than Akron and had a significantly better shooting percentage of 46%. Forward Aliah McWhorter led the team in scoring this quarter with 7 points, and Tabeling was able to add 4 points to her total as she ended the half with a game-leading 14 points. Ohio would go into halftime with a 2-point lead, 32-30
The third-quarter saw an insane offensive explosion from both teams, but especially Ohio. The Bobcats scored 35 points in the third-quarter alone, which is more than they scored in the entire first-half. Freshman guard ReRe Jennings and sophomore guard Gigi Bower, both coming off the bench, were able to score 10 points respectively in this quarter alone to pave the way for their team’s offensive dominance. Despite Ohio’s absurd offense, Akron was able to stay in it with a strong offensive campaign of its own with 24 points. That was not enough to keep up with the Bobcats, and they would enter the fourth down by 13 points, 67-54.
When it looked like all hope was lost for Akron and the momentum was all on Ohio’s side, it would mount a comeback of its own. The Zips would begin the fourth-quarter with an offensive assault against Ohio. Akron began to slowly and slowly chip away at their deficit due to superb scoring until the game was tied at 86-86 with 46 seconds left. Neither team would score after this, sending this already electric game into overtime.
Overtime started back and forth as both offenses were still performing just as well as they were during regulation. Tabeling was able to score 7 of her own in overtime to add to her stellar day. Despite Tabling's strong overtime performance, the Bobcats would find themselves down by 2 with three seconds left. When all hope was lost, Tabeling would inbound the ball to Jennings, and she would hit a clutch shot to tie it at 99-99 with no time left on the clock to send the game to double overtime.
The second overtime period was very similar to the first, as both teams were playing at the same level and matching each other's shots. The Bobcats and Zips would keep trading buckets until the game was tied at 105-105 with 14 seconds left in the period. Akron would hit a putback layup shot to break the tie with 11 seconds left. Tabeling's last-second 3-point attempt would not go in, and Ohio would lose this thrilling shootout 107-105.
The Bobcats had some very strong performances today from Tabeling, who finished with 25 points and kept Ohio in it all game, Jennings, who had 19 points and made very clutch overtime plays and forward Elli Garnett, who was able to rack up 10 rebounds. Despite these performances, Ohio’s struggling defense would prove to be too strong to overcome.
