Women's Basketball Bows to Ohio in MAC Tournament Quarterfinal

Wednesday, March 11

Cleveland, Ohio

1:45 p.m.

Central Michigan University

18-12,12-6MAC

Ohio

18-12,11-7MAC

Ohio

Central Mich.

Photo by: Sydney Kline '26 - @sydney.kline.photography

Women's Basketball Bows to Ohio in MAC Tournament Quarterfinal

3/11/2026 5:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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By: Andy Sneddon

CLEVELAND – Auld Lang Syne? No. Deja vu? Yes, unfortunately.

The last time Central Michigan and Ohio met on the basketball court -- New Year's Eve at McGuirk Arena -- the Bobcats pulled out an 85-83 overtime win.

On Wednesday at Rocket Arena, with the stakes much higher in a Mid-American Conference Tournament quarterfinal game, the fifth-seeded Bobcats stung the fourth-seeded Chippewas again, this time 89-88, ending CMU's season at 18-12.

It marked the second straight year the Chippewas fell in their first game in the tournament.

"Last year we were young, this year we were young, and next year we won't be young," third-year CMU coach Kristin Haynie said. "We've got to get to Cleveland and we've got to win some games. The same sour taste we had last year we have it again. We've got to figure that out.

"A lot of our players have played a lot of minutes. Experience matters. You see teams with a lot of experience win in March. We'll be better next year."

Sophomore Madi Morson, named the MAC Player of the Year on Tuesday, scored 23 points to lead the Chippewas, while Ayanna-Sarai Darrington added 20 points and 11 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season.

Taylor Anderson also had a double-double with 13 points and 12 boards, and Demetria Prewitt added 10 points. It was the final collegiate game for both Anderson and Prewitt.

The Chippewas simply had no answer for Ohio junior guard Bailey Tabeling, who scored a career-high 33 points on 12-of-19 shooting. It was Tabeling who hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer of regulation to send that New Year's Eve game into overtime.

Tabeling made five of her nine 3-point tries on Wednesday and the Bobcats finished 13 for 30 from long range and were nearly perfect, 16 for 18, from the free throw line.

The 13 triples tied for the most the Chippewas have surrendered this season, and that long-range success stretched the CMU defense and opened up the inside.

The Bobcats have made 304 3-pointers on the season, far and away the most among the 12 MAC teams.

"They play a unique style, five-out, and so we have our bigs guarding out on the perimeter," Haynie said. "They just play a different style than what we see. We had a few days to prep for them, we played them once, and we knew what they wanted to do, but sometimes during the game, being tired, fatigued, you kind of lose your mind and you're staying on task so they get you spinning around, running in circles."

That was certainly a factor. But, in Haynie's view, it was the transition game that ultimately did in her Chippewas. The Bobcats scored 25 fastbreak points to the Chippewas' 14.

"When we score, we've got to sprint back, it's not time to rest," Haynie said. "They did a great job pushing the ball and that's where we lost the game, transition defense and giving up too many 3s."

The Chippewas trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half but came back to the lead just past the midway point of the third quarter.

The game featured six ties and seven lead changes, the last of which came when Monica Williams drove from the left wing and dished to Elli Garnett for a wide-open layup with 1:19 remaining to give the Bobcats an 83-81 lead.

CMU never led after that. Prewitt split a pair of free throws with 54 seconds left to cut Ohio's lead to 83-82.

Tabeling, a threat hanging around on the perimeter, found a wide-open Asiah Baxter underneath for an easy bucket with 38 seconds remaining to make it 85-82.

Tabeling made all four of her free throw attempts in the final 25 seconds as Ohio held the Chippewas at bay. Tabeling's final two charity tosses made it 89-85. Anderson hit a triple at the buzzer to make the final margin one point.

"She's a great player," Haynie said of Tabeling. "(She) can score off the bounce and make 3s. She was a tiger for us. Even when you have defenders on her, she still gets her shot off. Credit her. She's definitely hard to guard."

Morson, a sophomore, is CMU's fifth MAC Player of the Year Award winner. All five have come since 2014. She finished the year averaging 20.1 points while shooting 45.3 percent from the field, 39.2 percent from 3-point range, and 83.3 percent from the free throw line.

"She's great; special talent for sure," Haynie said. "You can't teach some of the things that she does. She has a quick first step, she can elevate over the defense, and it's just been incredible to watch her and her consistency throughout the year.

"She really worked hard this offseason on her shot and she was super efficient all year. In basketball you talk about being 50-40-90 – 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3, 90 percent from free throw the line. That's incredible. Not a lot of players, even in the pros, can do that and she almost had that. Just goes to show her work ethic and the work she put in in the offseason. She's going to continue to get better."

In her third season in charge of the program, Haynie led the Chippewas to their first winning season since 2021-22.

Anderson, a four-year letter winner, has been through the downs and the ups.

"This team means a lot to me," she said. "We started in the trenches when I first got here. We got better over time. We got to Cleveland last year and fell short and fell short again (this year). It's sad but I hope this is a lesson for our underclassmen for next year. We're headed in a great direction. We have a great coaching staff. We're only continue to get better over the next few years."