INDIANAPOLIS – The Buckeyes entered the Big Ten Tournament down a starter, with a short bench and battled early-game foul trouble, but none of that was reflected in the score as Ohio State cruised past an overwhelmed Rutgers team 82-57 to reach the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 Ohio State | 25 | 16 | 28 | 13 | 82 |
| #9 Rutgers` | 19 | 7 | 7 | 24 | 57 |
Asia Doss was ruled out of Friday's game with an ankle sprain she sustained – and played through – during the Penn State game. An Ohio State spokesman said it took some convincing from coaching staff, as Doss hadn't missed a game in her 134-game career, but she agreed to sit out and rest to ensure she was ready for the NCAA Tournament.
"I was honestly pissed I couldn’t play," Doss said. "I instantly started crying, not gonna lie. I was pissed."
Doss said she feels 95 percent healthy and that her scratch from the lineup is totally precautionary. She wants to play, and feels she could play, but ultimately her status is day by day.
"If we really, really had to play her, I think there's a chance we could," head coach Kevin McGuff said of Doss' availability for the rest of the tournament. "But we're trying to give her a little bit of rest."
McGuff said if they rest Doss now, he knows she'll be 100 percent healthy for the NCAA Tournament – which is priority. Obviously, this could mean Doss would miss the Big Ten Tournament Championship game, if the Buckeyes make it that far. That's a prospect Doss is not enthused about.
| OHIO STATE | STAT | RUTGERS |
|---|---|---|
| 82 | POINTS | 57 |
| 28-57 (48%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 22-68 (32%) |
| 6-13 (46%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 5-22 (23%) |
| 20-23 (87%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 8-11 (73) |
| 9 | TURNOVERS | 15 |
| 36 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 43 |
| 10 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 21 |
| 26 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 22 |
| 9 | BENCH POINTS | 24 |
| 2 | BLOCKS | 3 |
| 1 | STEALS | 4 |
| 9 | ASSISTS | 16 |
"We're gonna get to that when we get to that, but honesty I don't think... I hope not," Doss said.
With Doss' absence, Ohio State started forward Alexa Hart, going with a bigger lineup with two post players instead of the typical four-guard lineup. Doss' injury also made a tight Buckeye rotation even tighter as they had just two bench players – Makayla Waterman and Jensen Caretti.
Adding to the the short bench issues, forwards Waterman and Stephanie Mavunga each picked up their third fouls before halftime in a game where Ohio State simply could not afford foul trouble.
But none of that mattered. The Buckeyes were simply the drastically better team, and it showed nearly from start to finish.
Four Ohio State players reached double figures, with Linnae Harper not far behind with nine. As a team, the Buckeyes shot a red-hot 48 percent from the field and 46 percent from three-point range while holding Rutgers to 32 percent from the field and 28 percent from behind the arc.
The primary area where the Buckeyes figured to miss Doss the most was in perimeter defense. Initially, Ohio State did struggle to play its brand of pesky defense without Doss, forcing just six first-half turnovers leading to only two points the other way. But the defense came, as the Buckeyes forced nine second-half turnovers leading to 14 points the other way to help them burry the Scarlet Knights.
"We made a couple of adjustments in the zone, how we were guard certain actions," McGuff said. "But I think it was just kind of indicative of a tournament where they played yesterday and they were probably just a tad more comfortable to start because of that."
Rutgers took just one single-point lead in the game, which came midway through the first quarter. From that point on, it was all Ohio State. The Buckeyes countered immediately to take a six-point lead into the second quarter and that lead only grew from there.
The Buckeyes pulled away in the second and third quarters as both the offense and defense came together. Ohio State allowed just seven Rutgers points in each of the middle two quarters. The Buckeye offense was slower in the second, managing just 16 points in the quarter, but exploded in the third quarter to take a 69-33 lead into the third quarter.
With the game well at hand, Ohio State cruised in the fourth. Ohio State emptied its bench and failed to hit a field goal for the final 7:27 seconds, but still won 82-57.
With the win, Ohio State advances to Saturday's Big Ten Tournament semifinals where they'll face the winner of Friday afternoon's game between No. 4 seed Minnesota and No. 5 seed Iowa at 6 p.m. on Saturday. BTN will have coverage.
