Normally, a season's most important games come at the end of the year. Those games might arrive in the days leading to a conference tournament, or they might appear during the postseason itself.
This season's most important game for the Ohio women's basketball team, however, might come tonight, on the road, against the Mid-American Conference's last-place team, with more than one month remaining in the regular season.
Ohio (7-11 overall, 1-6 MAC) faces lowly Central Michigan tonight at the Chippewas' Rose Arena. The Bobcats own only one MAC road win this season. Similarly, the Chippewas have not won a conference game at home in nearly a full calendar year.
Central Michigan (4-15, 0-8 MAC) carries the worst mark in the conference and averages the second-fewest points per game, ahead of only Akron. The team has lost nine straight games and 12 of its last 14.
Ohio is also struggling, although to a far lesser degree. After finishing its non-conference schedule with a winning record for the first time in nine years, the team has lost six of its last seven and has not won a home game in more than a month.
The Bobcats, who are near the bottom of the conference in opponent's field goal percentage and have addressed defensive intensity in recent practices, will attempt to hinder the Chippewas, whose top scorer averages little more than 10 ppg.
Ohio forward Latreece Bagley is the Bobcats' leading scorer at 12.4 ppg.
Nearly every other statistic from scoring average and field goal percentage, to assists-to-turnover ratio and rebounding margin also favors Ohio, though Central Michigan holds slim advantages in blocks, steals and fewer turnovers committed.
Tonight's game concludes a three-game road trip during which the Bobcats have posted losses against Kent State and Miami, and have fallen to fifth in the MAC East Division, ahead of only Akron.
Ohio will shoot for what could be its second conference road win and, possibly, the spur to push the team into a fourth-place tie in the division with Buffalo, at 7 p.m. at Rose Arena in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
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