Furious rally stalls late as Ohio State women fall to Tennessee in NCAA second round, 82-67

Despite a furious third quarter rally, the Buckeyes were eliminated in the second round for the second consecutive season.

Ohio State women’s basketball welcomed the Tennessee Volunteers to the Schottenstein Center Sunday night in the NCAA Tournament’s Second Round. It was a game that came with the expectation of a track meet. Both the Buckeyes and Vols were known for fast-paced play on both sides of the court. The game met expectations but the Volunteers played their own game better to defeat Ohio State 82-67 to head to the Sweet Sixteen.

In pregame warmups, Ohio State looked focused. There was not a lot of joking, and almost looked somber until the jump ball. Forward Ajae Petty won the tip and the Buckeyes got on the board first with a layup by Chance Gray 10 seconds into the game.

Tennessee answered back with a three-point shot on their first deep attempt of the game. Two possessions later, when the clock stopped for a foul, junior forward Cotie McMahon huddled the team up to tell them that three was given up too easily.

Out of the brief pause, the Buckeyes went on a nine-point run with Petty hitting to shots inside the paint. McMahon added a three-point shot before head coach Kevin McGuff did his best to emulate the Volunteers’ full five-player substitutions.

On the first play with guards Kennedy Cambridge and Madison Greene on the court, Greene forced a jump ball that pushed the Buckeyes’ intensity to another level, with McMahon pounding her feet on the court and Gray showing rare emotion on the court.

From there though, the Volunteers regrouped. It started with a three-point shot by Talaysia Cooper and then a series of miscues by the Buckeyes. Ohio State had three turnovers after the Cooper three and the Vols turned them into a 12-2 run, which cut the Buckeyes’ lead to one point, 18-17, with 44 seconds left in the first quarter.

Ohio State hit three free throws to end the quarter and the Buckeyes took a 21-17 lead into the second quarter.

In the second quarter of Tennessee’s game against the USF Bulls on Friday, the Vols outran and out shot the Bulls to the tune of a 29-9 scoring quarter. At the start of the second quarter on Sunday, it looked like Tennessee would do the same. Tennessee outscored Ohio State 10-4 in the first four minutes, with Ohio State missing four shots in a row and turned the ball over recklessly.

The Buckeyes were again passing the ball directly to Tennessee players, trying to force passes into teammates. Ohio State also had only two assists in the entire 10-minute period where the Scarlet and Gay went 5-of-13.

Head coach Kevin McGuff’s side needed a turnover and got it from Kennedy Cambridge. The guard turned a fumbled Tennessee pass into a fast break opportunity. The redshirt sophomore went up for a layup and guard Avery Strickland went up to stop the shot. Strickland collided with Kennedy Cambridge and sent her to the court and out of the game for almost four game minutes.

When Kennedy Cambridge reentered the game, freshman center Elsa Lemmilä left the game, limping on her left foot. Lemmilä did not play Friday against the Montana State Bobcats and was questionable entering Sunday’s game. In eight first half minutes, Lemmilä had two blocks before she left the game.

Ohio State gathered their composure and outscored Tennessee nine to eight in the final 3:40 to enter the locker room down 40-35.

With the Vols mass substitutions, playing 10 players at least five minutes in the first half, McGuff responded by giving his own players more of a break than usual, except guard/forward Taylor Thierry. The senior, playing in her final game in Columbus, played all 20 first half minutes and did a little bit of everything with four rebounds, two steals, one assist and one block. McMahon led all scorers with 11 points after 20 minutes.

Out of the halftime locker room, Jaloni Cambridge hit a fast break layup on a Tennessee three-point shot missed the target. It did not swing momentum in Ohio State’s favor as the Buckeyes gave up three turnovers in the first two minutes to contribute to an eight-point lead for Tennessee.

It looked like the Vols were on their way to a convincing victory until the Buckeyes stopped giving the ball away. First it was guard Greene who hit a corner three to stop a 14-point Tennessee run. It turned into a 12-point Ohio State run where the Buckeyes were the ones now forcing turnovers, including a rare shot clock violation for a Vols side known for scoring early in possessions.

Coming up big in the run was freshman Jaloni Cambridge, who had nine of what ended up being a 16-0 Buckeye run on the initial Ohio State burst of energy, taking a brief 57-56 lead with just under three minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The Buckeyes erased the 17-point point Tennessee lead with 20 of the next 18 points where Ohio State seemed to do everything right. The Scarlet and Gray forced five turnovers during the run and it ended with McMahon hitting a three-point shot that tied the game and then a free throw to give the Buckeyes their first lead of the second half.

However, that’s when things went south. Call it a combination of Ohio State complacency and Tennessee turning up the intensity but the Buckeyes went back to turning the ball over. The Vols held Ohio State from making any baskets in the run of play in the final 2:48 and forced four turnovers to end the quarter.

Tennessee took a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter, up 66-59.

In the final 10 minutes, Tennessee and Ohio State were still running and Thierry got the scoring going with a layup to start the frame. That made way for a run of 1-of-8 scoring for Ohio State while the Vols started 3-of-6 and extended their lead back to double digits.

With 4:26 remaining, Ohio State had the media timeout to try and turn the game around and find another run like they had in the third quarter to get back into the game. Tennessee was fast approaching the 80-point mark in the game and when the Vols hit it they are 19-2 on the season.

Ohio State hit baskets but still could not stop the Volunteers. The energy left the arena, aside from forward Eboni Walker who was substituted out for the last time and received an ovation from the crowd. It was the only substitution McGuff gave to an exiting senior in the final game for four Buckeyes.

The duo of McMahon and Jaloni Cambridge led the Buckeyes’ scoring in the defeat. McMahon scored 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting, going perfect from deep. Cambridge had 19 points but eight of Ohio State’s 23 turnovers.

In their last Ohio State games, Thierry had eight points with six rebounds. She led the team playing 39 minutes. Greene had three points while forward Ajae Petty scored eight points with six rebounds.

Cooper led Tennessee with 19 points and eight rebounds, plus a game-high seven steals. The Vols had four players score at least 10 points in the victory.

What’s Next

With the season now over for Ohio State, the Scarlet and Gray head into the offseason where five Buckeyes are guaranteed to not return due to eligibility. Odds are that the remaining nine will likely dwindle in the coming weeks in the transfer portal.

For the Volunteers, they head to Birmingham, Alabama for the regional semifinal against either the Illinois Fighting Illini or Texas Longhorns, who play Monday at 2:00 p.m. ET.