Wednesday had all the makings of a battle between Ohio State women’s basketball and No. 21 West Virginia. The Big 12 side had a reputation for getting to the free throw line and the Buckeyes brought a side with
eight underclassmen. The Mountaineers scored 23 points from the free throw line but it was late free throws by the Buckeyes to give the Scarlet and Gray the 83-81 victory.
From the jump, it appeared that the Buckeyes were going to have a tough day. West Virginia forced two turnovers on Ohio State’s first two possessions. Offensively, the Big 12 side scored the first nine points and 13 of the first 15 points. The Mountaineers’ press frustrated the Buckeyes and everything the team tried failed.
At the same time, West Virginia earned whistles early with their aggressive play, a strength of the Mountaineers which leads Power Four conferences with 28.7 free throws per game.
It was defense that turned the tide of the quarter, especially with guard Bryn Martin who entered the game as the first substitute guard off the bench. The guard helped close down shooters, had a block and forced a turnover with her defensive pressure. The Mountaineers offense slowed down and for the last 5:58 of the first quarter, did not make a shot in the run of play. It gave the Buckeyes the chance to calm down, hit shots, and shrink the once 11-point lead down to a 17-15 deficit.
In the second quarter, Ohio State earned its first lead of the game after a breakneck pace to start the quarter for both sides. The first four minutes of the quarter featured 15 combined points, and none from the free throw line. Offensively, the increased pace left both defenses in the dust and Ohio State adjusted first.
After five points from point guard Jaloni Cambridge, who led all Buckeye scorers in the first half with nine points, three different players scored the last three baskets for Ohio State. In the six-point run, Martin hit a three-point shot from deep, guard Chance Gray went to the basket on a fastbreak, assisted by Martin and center Elsa Lemmilä had two offensive rebounds that ended with a layup for the big.
Lemmilä came off the bench for the second game in a row after the Finnish center missed last Wednesday’s game against Kent State. Unfortunately for the big, Lemmilä picked up fouls quickly in the first half. In eight minutes, Lemmilä had three fouls go against her. That gave forward Ella Hobbs the chance to play meaningful minutes and the redshirt freshman had three rebounds and an assist in seven first half minutes.
Ohio State held onto the lead with a 12-5 fun to end the second quarter and entered halftime up 33-31.
On Monday, the Buckeyes needed a halftime adjustment to contend with the Belmont Bruins. On Wednesday, a worry could have been losing intensity, but Ohio State came out of the locker room with consistent defensive pressure. That turned into offense and the Cambridge sisters led the scoring to begin the half.
Jaloni Cambridge and Kennedy Cambridge scored the first eight points of the quarter, and Ohio State increased their lead to six.
West Virginia guard Gigi Cooke entered Wednesday with 7.6 free throws per game to lead the attacking Mountaineers side. To get back into the game, Cooke got to the line. By the end of the third quarter, Cooke had 12 trips to the free throw line already, and three consecutive makes shrunk the Ohio State lead momentarily.
It felt like a turning point for West Virginia, but the Buckeyes kept their composure. Martin responded to the free throws with a three-point shot from deep, her second of the game. As the Mountaineer bench grew louder to try and will their side back into the lead, Jaloni Cambridge hit a midrange jumper under duress and kept the Ohio State lead at two possessions.
However, the Mountaineers knew they had a distinct advantage inside the paint and getting to the line. West Virginia went to the line 12 times in the third quarter alone, which surpassed the Buckeyes’ total trips to the stripe through the game up to that point at eight.
The Mountaineers erased that once six-point lead and went ahead late in the period. Cooke and Kierra Wheeler each hit layups with a trip to the line. West Virginia scored 14 out of the next 16 points and six came from the free throw line. Ohio State fouled West Virginia 11 times in the quarter, compared to three for the Buckeyes. The final one of the quarter, called on Lemmilä who blocked the path of a defender, increased McGuff’s frustration who was in the ears of the officiating crew throughout the quarter.
With all the free throws, the personal fouls piled up for the Buckeyes. With 10 minutes remaining, Lemmilä, Kitts and Martin each had four fouls.
Gray stopped the bleeding at the start of the fourth quarter with two shots made from beyond the arc. With just under two minutes played a whistle went Ohio State’s way and the crowd erupted in ironic applause. That same energy found its way onto the court when referees had to stop players from talking back and forth after a missed Kennedy Cambridge free throw.
Ohio State had three fouls go their way in the first 2:35 of the fourth quarter, which matched their entire total in the third quarter.
Jaloni Cambridge followed her sister to the free throw line and capped off a nine-point Ohio State run to erase the WVU lead and go ahead with 7:25 remaining in the game.
The whistles returned for West Virginia. Jaloni Cambridge, who led the Buckeyes with 22 points, fouled out with 4:34 remaining in the game. A subsequent free throw by Sydney Wooley put the Mountaineers up eight points late. Kennedy Cambridge fouled out with 3:43 remaining. The redshirt junior had four steals and four assists.
It looked like the Buckeyes were done but five points from Martin had Ohio State down a single possession with 2:23 remaining. Then the free throws went Ohio State’s way. Ava Watson hit two followed by a pair from Kitts. With 47 seconds remaining the game sat tied at 79-79.
Martin soon fouled out too and West Virginia had a one-point lead with 28 seconds remaining. The true freshman Martin scored 16 points in the win. After an OSU timeout, Watson found Lemmilä who hit a shot deep in the paint to give the Buckeyes a one-point lead, but the Mountaineers had the final possession.
West Virginia missed a shot and Kitts blocked the second chance attempt. Guard T’Yana Todd grabbed the defensive rebound and hit both free throws on a subsequent foul to give Ohio State a three-point lead. On the WVU inbound, guard Sydney Shaw had the game-tying shot from deep. On the attempt, Kitts fouled the guard, and fouled out. Referees went to the monitor to confirm how much time was left.
Shaw made only one of three shots and Lemmilä grabbed the rebound to give the Buckeyes the improbable 83-81 victory.
What’s Next
The Buckeyes head home and have off until Sunday, Nov. 30. That is when the Niagara University Purple Eagles head to Columbus. Ohio State hasn’t played Niagara in its program history. The Purple Eagles, part of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) are 0-6 after a loss Wednesday against the Fordham Rams.
After the Sunday matchup, the Buckeyes are off for a week. On Dec. 7, Ohio State heads to Evanston, Illinois to face the Northwestern Wildcats for the first Big Ten game of the year, but its only a momentary move into conference play with four nonconference games between it and a Dec. 28 game against the UCLA Bruins.
