For the third time this season, No. 10 Ohio State women’s basketball played a game following a loss. This time it was against the No. 23 Minnesota Golden Gophers, a side that recently entered the Associated Press’ top-25 and entered the night with an eight-game winning streak. Minnesota picked up its ninth win in a row in a game where Ohio State could not find consistent offense. The Buckeyes return home after a 74-61 defeat.
First quarter
It was a slow start to a game that looked, on paper, to be one that would
be played with a lot of pace. Instead, it was a matchup of strong half-court defense. The Buckeyes got the scoring started first, and a seven-point run midway through the quarter gave the away side a three-point lead. During that stretch, the Gophers missed 10 shots in a row, which means the Buckeyes left a lot of baskets off the scoreboard.
Ohio State shot 40% from the floor in the first quarter, but on only 15 shots. Minnesota took six more than the Buckeyes because of a 2-4 turnover margin in favor of the home side. Even so, the 28.6% shooting from the Gophers kept the game close. While Minnesota did flip the lead after the cold shooting spell with a six-point run themselves, Ohio State ended the first period of play with a slim 16-14 margin.
Second quarter
With all those missed shots, the home side had an opportunity to grab offensive rebounds. However, the Buckeyes only allowed two offensive boards for the home side in the second quarter on 5-for-19 shooting. Instead, center Elsa Lemmilä had six defensive boards in the quarter, part of a 10-rebound first half for the big who split minutes with Kylee Kitts.
A 12-point run from the end of the first quarter into the second for Ohio State put the visitors up nine points, but Minnesota center Sophie Hart responded for the Golden Gophers. The 6-foot-5 big single-handedly got the team back into the game with a six-point run all of her own. The other four starters for Minnesota shot 4-for-27 in the half, and Hart led all scorers with 10 points headed into the halftime locker room, on 4-for-9 shooting.
That extra attention from the center put Ohio State’s rotating duo of inside presence into a little bit of foul trouble, and each had two at the half. The Buckeyes’ half-court defense kept the side in the game, despite a slower pace and only three forced turnovers at halftime. Minnesota entered the game with the fewest in the Big Ten and only 9.8 per game in its eight-game winning streak.
Third quarter
Minnesota and Ohio State entered the second half with plenty to improve upon, but only the Golden Gophers looked up to the task early in the third quarter. The Gophers found cracks in the Buckeye half-court defense and went on a nine-point run to start the quarter. On the other side of the court, Ohio State’s offense looked lost, which meant forced passes and turnovers. Then Lemmilä picked up her third foul in the game, with more attention given to Hart inside the paint.
Part of that lackluster offense was absolutely no effectiveness in the defensive press, so there were little to no fast break scoring opportunities. Without the easy baskets, Minnesota looked comfortable and confident. It took 3:34 into the second half before guard Chance Gray earned Ohio State a point in the quarter.
It was an accordion of a third quarter where the Gophers would stretch their lead and the Buckeyes would trim it down again, but Ohio State could not catch up. Minnesota outscored Ohio State 27-13 in the quarter, and by the end of the frame, Ohio State was down 11 points with 10 minutes remaining. It was 10 minutes until the Buckeyes had their first losing streak of the season, unless head coach Kevin McGuff’s side found some way to respond.
Fourth quarter
The game slipped further away from the Buckeyes in the fourth quarter because the Golden Gophers did not slow down. The home side scored seven of the first nine points in the quarter. Ohio State’s offensive game plan appeared to be giving the ball to Jaloni Cambridge and seeing what she can create. When McGuff called a timeout with 7:35 remaining in the game, down 16 points, Jaloni Cambridge was the only Buckeye with double-digit points.
Defensively, Kennedy Cambridge poked the ball away multiple times in the second half, but the loose balls kept rolling to Minnesota players.
Ohio State found its offensive stroke and it looked like another performance like Sunday against the Terrapins. The Buckeyes flipped a 16-point deficit into six points in less than three game minutes, but Minnesota kept its composure, like it has throughout its eight-game winning streak.
Number of the game: 17
That is the points Minnesota scored off Ohio State turnovers. The Buckeyes lost the turnover margin 11-9, and the Golden Gophers’ points off those giveaways eclipsed the Buckeyes’ 17-10. It was a stat line tha,t if teams and names were removed, most would assume the Buckeyes’ defense played to its potential. Instead, it is the second loss in a row for Ohio State.
Key performers
Ohio State
- Jaloni Cambridge: 23 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists
- Chance Gray: 17 points
Minnesota
- Sophie Hart: 18 points, 11 rebounds
- Amaya Battle: 13 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists
- Mara Braun: 18 points, 9 rebounds
Up Next
The Buckeyes are back home for the last two home games of the regular season. On Sunday at 2:00 p.m. ET, Ohio State welcomes the JuJu Watkins-less USC Trojans. Despite the season-ending injury, freshman guard Jazzy Davidson leads the team in points, rebounds, and assists on her way to a likely Big Ten Freshman of the Year award.
USC is on a five-game winning streak and beat the Buckeyes in each of the last two seasons.
