The Buckeyes could be iced out of hosting March Madness should the trend of late game collapses continue
Across Central Ohio, the ground is blanketed with a layer of snow and building that frozen layer of winter are snowflakes. Each one different than the other but still coming together for the same frigid result. Basketball games are a lot like snowflakes, where each game carries its own twists and turns, regardless of the game’s conclusion.
Look at Ohio State women’s basketball over the past two games, and on the surface, the Buckeyes overcame the obstacles to win consecutive overtime matchups over Big Ten foes. However, pay attention to the characteristics of each game and how the Buckeyes found themselves in the position of needing extra time to dispatch their opponents and the stories are like those snowflakes on Ohio State’s campus.
On Thursday, against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, the Buckeyes built a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter. Then, with five minutes remaining, the Gophers started accumulating baskets on Ohio State defensive lapses and combine that with cold shooting and the issues began to snowball.
Minnesota, no stranger to the winter, felt right at home in the storm and scored 12 of the last 14 points before tying it with an open three-point shot in the closing seconds. Junior forward Cotie McMahon and freshman Elsa Lemmilä weren’t bothered by the cold close to the fourth quarter and propelled the Buckeyes to a three-point overtime victory.
Then, on Monday afternoon, Ohio State gave up another double-digit lead, this time a 12-point advantage with 1:38 remaining in the fourth quarter. If the Minnesota loss was a slow moving front, the Hawkeyes were a blizzard.
“We could have closed the game out with free throws and we didn’t,” said head coach Kevin McGuff. “And so they made us pay and you know some of it was Lucy [Olsen] just made some incredible shots.”
Graduate senior guard Lucy Olsen led the comeback, hitting three shots from beyond the arc, each time the Buckeyes getting to the line in the bonus and coming up short, failing to convert five late chances. The former Villanova offensive threat scored 12 points in the fourth quarter to put Iowa back in the game.
“Lucy is a really good player,” said McMahon. “I think some of the shots that she made were just tough shots. Like that’s just one in a million chance.”
Ohio State iced the game in overtime, outscoring the Hawkeyes 12-4 with freshman Jaloni Cambridge scoring half of those points. Cambridge also went 4-of-4 from the free throw line to make up for 3-of-6 shooting from the line late in fourth.
Both wins keep the Scarlet and Gray in the driver’s seat for a top-four finish in the Big Ten, and with that a double-bye into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament. Plus, keeping pace to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament with Ohio State coming in at No. 14 in the tournament committee’s initial top-16 seeding announced Sunday.
Despite the differences in how Ohio State got to the point where they needed overtime in consecutive games, one tough similarity for the Buckeyes to take is the team’s lackluster effort on the defensive end of the court. McMahon points the finger back at the team.
“Just lack of mental focus. I mean, we were doing everything right up until then,” said McMahon. “We just have to stay locked in the full 40 minutes. I feel like that’s where we struggled. Just our defense is still a struggle.”
Now, Ohio State has to prove that it can close out games, adding another wrinkle to the final four games of the regular season and conference tournament. In the regular season, two of the last four games are on the road, starting Thursday in a loud and raucous Assembly Hall against the Indiana Hoosiers.
Then, it’s a Sunday matchup against a Purdue Boilermakers side that’s shocked Ohio State in past seasons. Followed by a home game against the No. 22 ranked Michigan State Spartans who play their toughest basketball in the fourth quarter of games. It all culminates with a trip to College Park, Maryland to face the No. 21 Maryland Terrapins.
It’s a stretch that is difficult, but not impossible for the Scarlet and Gray.
“If we would have played the last five minutes of the game like we played in overtime, because in overtime we played really hard, we executed at a high level, we were together, we had great energy, great communication, but we didn’t have that last five minutes,” said McGuff. “So we’ve got to commit to that for closer to 40 minutes and I think we can close out games. But, you know, until we really get that we’re going to leave ourselves vulnerable.”
Should Ohio State stumble in the final days of the regular season and have another late exit in the Big Ten Tournament, the Buckeyes will have a more difficult road come March Madness. A tough thought for fans of the Scarlet and Gray who don’t want to be left out in the cold when the tournament committee chooses tournament hosts in the next month.