After wins in No. 5 Ohio State women’s basketball’s first two games of the 2026 Big Ten Tournament, the Buckeyes’ biggest test came Saturday against the No. 1-seeded UCLA Bruins. Head coach Cori Close’s Bruins did not lose in their 19 previous Big Ten games headed into Saturday, so the Buckeyes needed to have their best performance of the season if they wanted to earn a spot in the conference title game. Ohio State played three quarters of close basketball with the Big Ten champions, but five UCLA players
in double-figure scoring defeated the Buckeyes 72-62.
First quarter
Ohio State looked anxious to start the game, especially guard Jaloni Cambridge. The sophomore star appeared focused on trying to win the game on her own. To start, the younger of OSU’s two Cambridge sisters took a midrange shot with 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts in front of her, which turned into the Big Ten Player of the Year’s first block of the game. Late in the quarter, Kennedy Cambridge got her shot blocked by Betts as well when she tried to go to the baseline and hit a layup.
UCLA went up 11 points and had a 14-3 lead with under four minutes left in the quarter. It felt like a repeat of Ohio State’s performance against the Bruins in last year’s 75-46 semifinal, but as the game got going, the Buckeyes seemed to calm down on defense. The Bruins missed their last five shots of the quarter, and center Elsa Lemmilä performed well against Betts, who had no points inside the paint in the first quarter. The UCLA center had only two points, from a midrange jumper.
The Buckeyes offense recovered to hit the last seven points of the quarter to enter the second with a four-point deficit.
Second quarter
Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, Ohio State did not carry its scoring momentum into the second half, allowing the Bruins to build a double-digit lead. UCLA scored 16 of the first 20 points of the quarter while the Buckeyes tried to pass over and around Betts with little to no success. When the Buckeyes did take shots, they did not fall, and Ohio State missed seven attempts in a row as the Bruins increased their lead back to 11.
That is where the margin sat at halftime, with UCLA holding a 32-21 advantage. OSU guard Chance Gray was the leading scorer, keeping the Buckeyes at least in striking distance, putting up 11 first-half points. Redshirt forward Kylee Kitts added five, but Ohio State was stifled by the B1G’s regular-season leading scorer, Jaloni Cambridge, who went 1-for-6 with two points.
For comparison’s sake, last year in the Big Ten semifinal, the Buckeyes’ performance was even worse at the half, down 44-21. This year, there was at least the continuation of a fight by Ohio State, even though the decision-making of passes and shots gave no indication that the Buckeyes could come back.
Third quarter
Out of the halftime locker room, Ohio State came in with renewed energy defensively. Ohio State made key stops but the offense still was not giving the Buckeyes any sort of surge. For the first half of the quarter, no team made two consecutive baskets. The back and forth included clutch shots like a three from Bruins’ guard Gianna Kneepkens, even under defensive pressure. That three turned the then eight-point Ohio State deficit back to double-digits.
Even though the Buckeyes looked better overall, it was still not enough to trim down the deficit. UCLA’s lead grew by a point.
Fourth quarter
The final 10 minutes was a lot of the same for Ohio State. Defend a shot, make one, have a good defensive play and then not capitalize on the offense. The lead teeter-tottered from 12 points to eight, back to 10 and back to 12. Ohio State found what worked and had the intensity to keep the game close, but never could get through enough to make up for the second quarter shooting lull.
With five minutes remaining, guard Ava Watson intercepted a secondary pass off an inbound that turned into a three for Gray, her fourth of the night. It made it an eight-point game but then a corner three from Angela Dugalic pushed it back to 11 points.
Ohio State’s deficit was down to seven points with 1:24 left, thanks to two free throws from Jaloni Cambridge. The Buckeyes needed to be perfect if they wanted a chance to upset the undefeated Big Ten side. Ohio State stopped Lauren Betts on defense but on the fast break, Jaloni Cambridge missed a layup, her eighth miss of the game to that point on 4-for-12 shooting.
Ohio State tried at the end to overcome, but it was the same story over the last 20 minutes. Missed contested layups and made free throws from UCLA in the bonus solidified the victory for the Bruins.
Number of the Game: 7
That is the deficit Ohio State had in the second quarter of the loss to the UCLA Bruins. From the end of the first half, the Buckeyes had to play out of a hole, when it is already difficult enough going up against an undefeated side when the scoreline is close.
Key performers
Ohio State
- Chance Gray: 23 points, 2 rebounds
- Elsa Lemmilä: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists
UCLA
- Kiki Rice: 17 points, 8 rebounds
- Lauren Betts: 14 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals
Up Next
With the defeat, the Buckeyes now await the NCAA Selection Show on March 15 at 8 p.m. ET. Before the final game of the regular season, Ohio State came in at No. 16 in the committee’s top-16 ranking. That meant the last No. 4 seed and the last team to host a first and second round game of the NCAA Tournament.
Since then, Ohio State defeated the Michigan State Spartans and Minnesota Golden Gophers, who were ranked No. 14 and No. 15, respectively. Then add a second loss for the Spartans in the Big Ten Tournament against Illinois, and two losses for the Maryland Terrapins, who came in at No. 13 in the NCAA Committee rankings, and Ohio State looks like a near lock to host. In ESPN Bracketology, Ohio State moved up to a No. 3 seed.
