The Buckeyes survive a hardly fought battle in Nashville Sunday
Ohio State women’s basketball played two games fitting of a top 25 team playing a mid-major side to start the season. After rolling in wins over the Cleveland State Vikings and Charlotte 49ers, the No. 12 Buckeyes traveled to Nashville to face the Belmont Bruins. The ranking didn’t matter to the Missouri Valley Conference side, and Belmont kept the game close for 40 minutes in a 67-63 Buckeyes win.
Before Sunday’s game, questions surrounded freshman guard Jaloni Cambridge. Specifically, would she be available after having a big fall to start the second half against Charlotte on Tuesday?
Cambridge started for the Buckeyes, with a large cheering section in the Cambridge’s home town of Nashville, Tennessee. The guard didn’t miss a step, hitting her first shot of the game, a three-point attempt.
Last season, the two sides played a close first half before the Buckeyes pulled away. Sunday, it was the Bruins starting hot, going up 15-13, which caused head coach Kevin McGuff to increase the pressure.
Ohio State put their havoc press into place and slowed down Bruins shooting. The Buckeyes allowed only four shots in the last five minutes of the first quarter for Belmont, hitting one.
That was good for the Buckeyes because the visitors missed seven shots in a row to start the defensive stand. Plus, a hard fall for Cotie McMahon that sent the forward out of the game. McMahon had contact by forward Kendal Cheesman on a layup attempt.
The Buckeye hit a free throw but went to the bench favoring her leg. McMahon didn’t stay on the bench long and came back in to break up the bad shooting spell to score the last four points of the quarter. Ohio State ended the quarter up four points, even on 2-of-13 shooting in the second half of the first period.
Defense continued in the second quarter. Ohio State kept limiting shots for Belmont, and when they did take shots they were under half court pressure. The Buckeyes forced 10 first half turnovers.
Offensively, the Scarlet and Gray had a 13-point run from midway through the first Into the second quarter. Of that run, McMahon accounted for nine of the points. By halftime, McMahon already scored 15 points, eclipsing her season average of 14.0 points per game entering Sunday.
Following the Bruins scoring drought, Belmont upped their intensity. The home side forced four turnovers in just over four minutes and went on a 16-2 run to get back on top with 2:37 remaining in the half. Ohio State hit two shots to end the half to go into the locker room up four points, but the Buckeyes needed to adjust if they wanted to avoid an upset.
The second half picked ups here the first half left off, with Belmont continuing aggressive offensive play but were also aggressive in the paint defensively. With 4:51 remaining in the quarter, the Bruins put the Buckeyes in the bonus, which wasn’t necessarily a saving grace after Ohio State shot 5-of-11 from the line before hitting the bonus.
Belmont fouls and Ohio State rebounding kept the Bruins at a distance. The Buckeyes out rebounded the Bruins 20-10 on offensive boards and 36-29 overall through three quarters. It helped shooting for Ohio State that wasn’t coming from half court offense, shooting 2-of-15 in the quarter.
Even so, without shots falling, Belmont kept the game close and went ahead late in the quarter with a six-point run. Ohio State ended the quarter outscored 18-11, entering the final 10 minutes down three points.
Ohio State probably expected things to swing back in their direction, but the fourth quarter didn’t bring any relief. Following a layup by Taylor Thierry, the Bruins went on a seven-point run to extend their lead further.
Out of nowhere though, the Buckeyes found the composure to bring the game back into Ohio State’s favor. For the first time in the game, the Buckeyes hit four shots in a row, going on a 10-point run to go ahead a point with 3:00 remaining.
From there, Belmont guard Jailyn Banks fouled out, the key defender with three steals on the day and one of the reasons why the Buckeyes struggled to hit shots on the perimeter. Ohio State extended their run to 13 points before Belmont cut the game to a single possession.
Bruins’ guard Emily La Chappell had a chance to put Belmont ahead with a three but missed. On the next possession, the Buckeyes lost the ball and La Chappell was fouled on an attempted layup. The guard tied the game at 63-63 with 35.8 seconds remaining.
Cambridge, who only had one shot on 1-of-9 shooting up until that point, took the ball with the game tied and went to the basket. The freshman hit a runner and was fouled on the play, which Cambridge made from the foul line. With 13.8 seconds remaining, the Bruins had a chance to tie the game but Kendall Holmes pushed Cambridge before a shot, giving the Buckeyes the ball and the win.
McMahon led the way for Ohio State in the win, scoring 21 points with five rebounds. Taylor Thierry scores 11 points with seven rebounds.
What’s Next
Ohio State stays on the road this week, taking the short bus ride to Athens, Ohio to face the Ohio Bobcats. The MAC side is the last team from Ohio to defeat the Buckeyes when the Bobcats defeated the Scarlet and Gray in Columbus on Nov. 17, 2019.
Since then, Ohio State is 2-0 against Ohio. In Athens, two years ago, coach McGuff’s side beat the Bobcats 86-56 and then again last season in Columbus 85-45.