The Daytona Beach Classic ends with another Buckeyes rout.
Friday, Ohio State women’s basketball was back on the court, finishing up their two-day stint at the Daytona Beach Classic. After success in the paint against Old Dominion Thursday, Chance Gray and Ajae Petty lead the Scarlet and Gray over the Utah State Aggies 87-51.
In the first quarter, Ohio State went on an 11-point run to start, with the Aggies missing their first three attempts. It wasn’t until 6:36 that Utah State hit a shot, one of their six attempted shots from beyond the arc in the first quarter.
For Ohio State, forward Petty continued her successful play inside the paint, going 3-of-4 in the first quarter with six points.
Point guard Jaloni Cambridge had a tough opening quarter, making her first shot attempt but missing her next five. Also, Cambridge took a knock in the first two minutes, going up for a layup against Sophie Sene. After hitting the ground, Cambridge got up slowly and was hunched over on the court for a few seconds. The freshman continued playing but was replaced a couple of minutes later by Madison Greene.
In the second quarter, Cambridge showed she was ok, adding five points and four rebounds.
Sene started the second quarter with a Utah State layup, but then Ohio State took over with a 21-point run where seven different Buckeyes scored in a span of 6:16 on the game clock.
Utah State came into the game hoping to continue their run-and-gun style offense where long passes and shots from beyond the arc are their standard operating procedure. Unfortunately for the Aggies, those deep shots didn’t fall, causing ample opportunities for Ohio State rebounds and fast breaks.
The Aggies shot 15 threes in the first half, hitting two. By halftime, the Buckeyes already had 33 rebounds, compared to 20 for Utah State. Those rebounds and 20 forced steals turned into 10 points for Ohio State on the break.
By halftime, the Buckeyes were up 27 points on head coach Wesley Brooks’ side, who was visibly and audibly frustrated in the first half.
That frustration boiled over in the third quarter. With his team on a run of seven missed shots in a row, and a timeout called on the floor, Brooks yelled towards the referee group about how the game was called, caught on the arena mics saying to call the game both ways. The referees assessed Brooks with a technical foul, with two Gray free throws putting the Buckeyes up 31 points.
Gray hit those free shots and more, leading the Buckeyes through three quarters with 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Whether that technical was riled up on purpose or not, the Aggies responded, scoring 12 of the next 14 points. It decreased their deficit to 25 points, Utah State was 4of-5 during the run but turnovers hurt that run from going any further, allowing nine points off turnovers in the period.
Benefiting from those turnovers were the Ohio State forwards Eboni Walker and Elsa Lemmilä. The two had eight of the last 13 points of the quarter and the Buckeyes increased their lead back to 33 points
Ohio State built a 12-point run from the end of the third into the start of the fourth quarter. The track meet between the sides was working in the Scarlet and Gray’s favor, with Utah State even struggling to get off a shot. Brooks called a timeout after 1:45 of the fourth quarter with his Aggies taking only one shot in that time, compared to four for the Buckeyes.
In the fourth quarter, with the Buckeyes up 35 points, Utah State’s Mia Tarver hit her second three-point shot of the quarter. Following the shot, the guard had some words to say to the younger Cambridge sister. On the next offensive play, Cambridge responded with a surge to the basket, earning a foul against Tarver.
Overall, Utah State didn’t have much to talk about with play on the court. The chasm between Ohio State and the Aggies was on display throughout the 40 minutes, cruising to the victory.
With 2:43 remaining, Utah State’s Karlie Banks went to the court, rolling her right ankle hard. Coach Brooks and a teammate came up to help Banks off the court. The game continued quickly but it was an unfortunate end on an unfortunate day for the Aggies.
Gray and Petty ended the evening tied for the game-high in points with 17 apiece. Petty was one rebound away from her second consecutive double-double and Gray added five rebounds. Cambridge had 13 points with 6ix rebounds, 5 steals, and 4 assists.
What’s Next
Next up for the Buckeyes is the No. 19 Illinois Fighting Illini. The Big Ten foes will come to the Schottenstein Center on Sunday, Dec. 8 for a game that will air on the Big Ten Network at 4 p.m. ET. It’s the first Big Ten game before getting back to a brief stint in the non-conference schedule.
The Fighting Illini will be the biggest test for McGuff’s side in this young season, with wins over a then-ranked Florida State side and wins against unranked Marquette and Oregon State.
Illinois fell in their last game, losing to No. 14 Kentucky 76-53 on Wednesday.