After a difficult week in California, Ohio State picks up a win to stay near the top of the Big Ten
After a tough two-loss week in Los Angeles, the No. 9 Ohio State women’s basketball team (21-3, 10-3) started a run of four home games in their last six, starting with the Minnesota Golden Gophers (19-7, 7-7). The Buckeyes had a 14-point lead in the final quarter, but got outscored 17-3 in the final five minutes, sending the game to overtime. McMahon’s 25 points and late clutch shooting from Elsa Lemmilä led Ohio State in the extra period, pushing Ohio State to an 87-84 victory.
Off the jump, forward Cotie McMahon scored the first five points for Ohio State and the Buckeye defense followed its up with six points off turnovers to take a five-point lead early. However, Minnesota stuck around with Ohio State, pushing the inside game and using it to find open looks from beyond the arc.
After scoring six points in the paint in the first quarter, the Golden Gophers went 3-of-6 from three to bring Ohio State’s lead down to a single possession.
Pushing the lead back out for Ohio State was freshman guard Ava Watson. Following a quiet run of six total points in her last seven games, Watson ended the first quarter with a three-point shot and continued the form in the second, hitting the first three shots for Ohio State, including two more from deep.
From there, the rest of the Buckeyes’ shooting went cold. After starting the game 13-of-17 from the floor, Ohio State went 2-of-8 for the last 7:24 of the first half. Even though Minnesota scored 12 of the next 14 points, those Watson baskets kept the Buckeyes in the lead. In the final 1:27, McMahon got physical and attacked the basket, scoring the last four points of the quarter to give Ohio State a five-point lead coming out of halftime, up 35-30.
Out of the halftime locker room, point guard Jaloni Cambridge got Ohio State going on the defensive side of the ball. In the first half of the third quarter, Cambridge had three steals, turning them into three points and an assist. They were the first points of the game for the freshman standout, who played facilitator more than offensive weapon in the first half, only shooting twice in 16 first half minutes.
Watson continued to stay hot when she came on the court, adding five points in the third quarter to bring her game total up to 16 points, a single game Big Ten record in the guard’s first season. It eclipsed 15 points scored against the Northwestern Wildcats on Jan. 5.
Ohio State extended the lead to 12 points with 1:05 remaining in the third quarter, the largest lead for the Scarlet and Gray in the game to that point, but Minnesota forward Sophie Hart scored four points in the paint to close out the period. The Buckeyes entered the fourth quarter up eight points, with the Golden Gophers still challenging.
For the strong first half of the Golden Gophers from deep, Ohio State’s perimeter defense improved in the second half, holding Minnesota to 0-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc in the first 15 minutes of the half. With it not working, the Gophers went hard inside, scoring 20 of their first 27 points of the second half in the paint.
The Scarlet and Gray responded, hitting seven shots in a row to open the game up with five minutes remaining in the game, extending the lead to 14 points into the final media timeout of the game.
Ohio State amassed a 14-point lead with 5:09 remaining, but Minnesota wasn’t going to give up so easily. The Golden Gophers went on another run scoring 12 of 14 points, and cut the Buckeye lead to four points with 41.6 seconds remaining.
Then, on an inbound pass, McMahon overthrew Taylor Thierry, taking no time off the clock and giving the Golden Gophers possession of the ball. Minnesota again went to the paint, with freshman Tori Mckinney hitting a layup. Even though there were four seconds separating the shot clock and game clock, Minnesota sent the Buckeyes to the line and graduate senior Madison Greene hit one of two free throws, giving Ohio State a three-point lead with 18.9 seconds left in the game.
Entering the Minnesota possession, the Golden Gophers were 0-of-10 from deep in the second half. The fans got on their feet to try and throw the visitors off their game, hoping to will Ohio State to victory. Sophomore Grace Grocholski silenced the crowd, hitting a three from the top of the key to tie the game with 8.3 seconds remaining.
On the Ohio State possession, Greene got the ball and ran to the basket, but she lost control of the ball and it went out of bounds off Minnesota, giving the Buckeyes one more chance. Off the inbound, center Elsa Lemmilä received the pass but sent it out to guard Chance Gray, who tried a three but had it blocked, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra period, McMahon did what she didn’t have the chance to do late in the fourth and went to the basket. The junior made the first two shots of overtime but Hart matched the shots inside, hitting two of the first six points for the Golden Gophers.
With the game tied 80-80, Ohio State scored the next four points with Lemmilä hitting a midrange jumper just before the shot clock expired. Then, on the inbound, Gray leapt to get a turnover at half court, tossing it up to Thierry for a layup. Minnesota responded with a three from forward Mallory Heyer.
Lemmilä responded again, scoring her fourth points of the quarter after a hesitation on her layup opened up a clear shot at the rim, giving Ohio State a three-point lead. Then, with a three-point lead, Lemmilä had a huge block to potentially tie the game.
McMahon led all scorers with 25 points, adding 6 assists and 4 rebounds. Watson scored 16 on perfect 4-of-4 shooting from deep but went to the bench early in the fourth quarter after an ankle injury. Cambridge added 10 points with a team high six assists, fouling out in the fourth quarter.
Hart led Minnesota, scoring 21 points, with all but one coming inside the post. Junior guard Amaya Battle scored 16 points.
What’s Next
The Buckeyes have one more game at home before a trip to Bloomington, Indiana next Thursday. On Monday, the Iowa Hawkeyes heads to the Schott for an early 12:00 p.m. ET matchup with Ohio State.
Ohio State and Iowa split their two games last season, famously with an overtime win for the Buckeyes in front of a record crowd in Columbus. Then, on the final regular season game of the season, the Scarlet and Gray traveled to Iowa City and fell to guard Caitlin Clark in her final regular season game at Iowa.
In 38 games, dating back to 1999, the Buckeyes are 23-15, and are 5-5 in the last 10.