Ohio State Downs Michigan State 78-62 Snapping Three-Game Losing Skid

Ohio State got back on track on Saturday afternoon, downing Michigan State 78-62 to snap a three-game losing streak.

For Kelsey Mitchell, the win was an enormous relief.

"Honestly, it's like a lift off your shoulders when you know you went 0-3," Mitchell said. "First off, you lose to the team up north, which is a really good team. Then you turn around and lose by 30. Then you turn around and go to Iowa and you're in a dog fight, and you end up losing that game too.

"As a basketball player and even as a player, no matter the sport, you just feel like crap," Mitchell said.

The team's three-straight losses due in large part to lackluster defense as the Buckeyes gave up over 80 points in each game, most recently allowing Iowa to score 103 points and shoot over 50 percent from both the field and three-point range.

"Same song and dance, but it was defense," Mitchell said of the losses. "We went up to Iowa and we just couldn't string together a couple of stops to be able to battle with them defensively. Maryland game, we didn't play 40 minutes at all on defense."

That defense was better on Saturday afternoon. For the first time this season, Ohio State held an opponent to less than 20 points in each quarter. The Buckeyes allowed Michigan State just 62 points in the game and held the Spartans to 37 percent from the field.

"We sustained our defensive effort for close to 40 minutes, and that's something we haven't been doing," Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said after the game. "I was really happy and pleased with our effort overall."

Offensively, the Buckeyes rode their scoring trio of Kelsey Mitchell, Stephanie Mavunga and Linnae Harper, who each had double figures. Mitchell led the way with 23, becoming the Big Ten's all-time scoring leader in the process, while Harper had 22 and Mavunga 20.

Harper was undoubtably the MVP for Ohio State. Her 22 points came on an incredibly efficient 10-for-14 from the field and she also pulled down 10 boards, dished out five assists and racked up five steals.

"Linnae had a phenomenal game," McGuff said. "She was incredibly good on both ends of the floor and she impacted the game all over the place. She was really good today. Excellent."

Harper's versatility is nearly unmatched in women's college basketball. She has the ability to run the offense as a point guard, or play the power forward position – and she excels at both.

"She had five assists, but she also led us in rebounding," McGuff noted. "She's a very, very unique player and she just impacts us in so many ways on both ends of the floor."

The first half was back and forth. Ohio State held the lead through most of the first and second quarters, but that lead never exceeded six points. Behind 26 combined first-half points from Harper, Mavunga and Mitchell, the Buckeyes held a 32-29 halftime lead.

Ohio State gradually stretched its lead in the third quarter behind Mavunga and Mitchell's scoring until Mavunga went to the bench for a breather as Mitchell picked up her fourth foul. The Buckeyes had a 50-42 lead when Mitchell left the game and the Spartans quickly cut it to 51-49.

The Michigan State run was short lived. McGuff made the difficult decision to put Mitchell back in the game, and it paid off as the Buckeyes promptly went on a 12-2 run and dominated the Spartans the remainder of the game, outscoring them 27-9 to close the quarter to earn a 78-62 victory.

"It's hard. It's not easy," McGuff said of the decision to play Mitchell with four fouls. "I felt like we were playing pretty well, and I thought we had a chance to stretch the lead out and I wanted to put our best team on the floor to give ourselves a chance to do it."

Ohio State shot 85.7 percent from the field in the fourth quarter – the team's best-shooting quarter since NCAA women's basketball switched from halves to quarters three seasons ago.

With the win, the Buckeyes snap a three-game losing skid and improve to 17-5 overall and 6-3 in the conference and can finally turn the page from their most difficult and disappointing stretch of the season.

"Our goal is to be at our best in March," McGuff said. "There's going to be high points and low points in every season. Let's make sure this was the lowest point. Let's learn from it."

Ohio State is next in action on Wednesday when it plays host to Penn State at 7 p.m.