Ohio women’s basketball (17-12, 11-7) defeated the Central Michigan Chippewas (18-12, 12-6) in a Mid-American Conference (MAC) quarterfinal matchup at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, Wednesday by a final of 89-85.
Junior guard Bailey Tabeling led the Bobcats with a game-leading and career-high 33 points on 12-for-19 shooting, including 5-of-9 from deep. Not to mention, she also tallied three assists, two rebounds and two steals.
“It’s what you hope for when you come to Cleveland,” said head coach Bob Bolden postgame. “I thought Central [Michigan] was terrific today, and I was really proud of the way that our kids stuck together and finished the game.”
Ohio started hot, scoring 27 points in the opening quarter on 66% shooting in the period, with 11 of the 27 points coming from Tabeling.
“Seeing the ball go through the basket, it’s just a momentum changer,” said Tabeling. “I think it allowed the other girls to get to the rim and score the way they wanted to score, but I was really proud of how we played today.”
The Bobats progressed to score 21 points in the second quarter, 22 points in the third quarter and 19 points in the fourth quarter to close out the game. Having said that, Central Michigan scored 20 or more points in three of four periods themselves to continue the battle into the late stages of the fourth quarter.
It wasn’t until Tabeling connected on a triple in the late stages of the contest that set OU up for the victory.
“Just trying to get the momentum back on our side, any basket really,” said Tabeling. “It just so happened to be mine, but just trying to see the ball go through the net and hopefully change that momentum to where we get more aggressive and have more energy.”
Tabeling also had success in the first game against Central Michigan this season—an 85-83 win on Dec. 31—scoring 20 points on 8-for-17 shooting from the field and 4-of-9 on 3-pointers.
With the win against the Chippewas, Ohio is now slated for a date against the top-seeded Miami (OH) RedHawks on Friday, whom they defeated to close out their 2025-26 regular season 77-62 in Athens, Ohio.
“Miami is a good team,” said Tabeling. “They’re a good team for a reason. We just can’t let our win against them a couple days ago affect how we come out and play. We need to come out and play aggressive, strong, together and play how we really play, honestly.”
