Ohio State Women’s Basketball Falls to Maryland, 76-74, in Regular-Season Finale

Just 19 days after suffering a 36-point loss to Maryland on the road, the Buckeyes went to the wire on Friday night with the Terrapins, falling 76-74 to the sixth-ranked team in the country by the NCAA selection committee.

Cotie McMahon (20), Taylor Mikesell (18), Taylor Thierry (16) and Rebeka Mikulasikova (13) all scored in double figures for the Buckeyes, but Abby Meyers scored 24 for Maryland to lead the Terrapins to a win. McMahon nearly sent the game to overtime with a tip-in at the final buzzer, but the shot was ruled to come just after time expired, preserving a two-point win for the visitors.

“It was a great basketball game. I thought both teams played really hard and compete at a high level. And I'm disappointed for our team that when you put that much into it, and our competitive spirit was terrific, our togetherness, all the intangibles were great. And they just made like one more play than we did,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said after the game. “I thought both teams had plenty of opportunities down the stretch. And they just, we had chances, we had some decent shots and all that. And they made one more shot than us. So disappointed that we didn't get the win, but progress.”

After Maryland threatened to seize early control of the game with a 6-0 run to take a 12-6 lead, McMahon responded by scoring three straight baskets of her own to even the score. The Buckeyes finished the first quarter with a 16-15 lead when Mikesell – who was honored during Senior Night festivities before the game – made a jumper with just three seconds left to play in the opening frame.

Maryland controlled the scoreboard for most of the second quarter after pulling ahead with a 7-0 run early in the second quarter. Still, the Buckeyes never allowed the Terrapins to take a lead of more than seven points. Maryland took a 38-33 lead into the second half after a two-point make by Meyers just before the halftime buzzer.

Ohio State retook control of the game with a 30-point third quarter in which Thierry scored 10 points by herself and Mikesell hit three 3-pointers. Ohio State scored 23 of the quarter’s final 35 points to take a 63-58 lead into the last 10 minutes.

The Terrapins quickly tied the game in the first minute of the fourth quarter with five straight points by Meyers, which McGuff felt was a turning point in the game. The Buckeyes also turned the ball over five times in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, which helped swing the contest in Maryland’s favor.

“I thought we had a chance to stretch (the lead) out a little bit then, and we didn't. Those turnovers really hurt us,” McGuff said. “We were way more consistent tonight towards 40 minutes, but still, there's a higher level in those areas that can really help us.”

Neither team would lead by more than four points at any point in the final nine minutes of the game. But the Buckeyes missed their final six field goal attempts of the game while Rikki Harris missed a pair of free throws in the final minute that could have tied the game, and those misses ultimately culminated in OSU’s two-point loss.

Missed free throws were a problem for Ohio State throughout Friday night’s game, as the Buckeyes made just eight of their 20 free-throw attempts despite entering the game having made nearly 70 percent of their free throws for the season.

“I think if we shoot our normal percentage that we've shot for however many games we‘ve played, we probably win,” McGuff said. “So I think it was a little bit of an anomaly, but sometimes that’s the way it goes ... We just needed to make one or two more plays, and give (Maryland) credit; they did, we didn’t.”

With Friday’s loss, Ohio State finishes the regular season with a 23-6 record. Five of those six losses came against the top three teams in the Big Ten, as the Buckeyes lost twice to Indiana, once to Iowa and twice to Maryland.

Ohio State will begin the postseason next Friday in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. The Buckeyes, who earned the last double bye in the conference tournament as the No. 4 seed, will play their first game of the tournament – likely against their rival Michigan, who will be the No. 5 seed in the tournament – at approximately 3 p.m. next Friday in Minneapolis.

Even with Friday night’s loss, McGuff believes the Buckeyes are carrying some momentum into the Big Ten Tournament by playing much better in their second matchup with Maryland after earning a ranked win over Michigan earlier in the week.

“I think we were in a bit of a funk, but I think in the last week, 10 days, we've played much better and been kind of where we need to be,” McGuff said. “So now we need to get a little bit of rest and just kind of sharpen up some things before we head to Minneapolis.”

Every game of the Big Ten Tournament will be televised on Big Ten Network except for Sunday’s championship game, which will air on ESPN with a 5 p.m. tip-off.

Game Notes

• Mikesell, the lone Buckeye in her final year of eligibility, was honored during Senior Night festivities before the game. The five other seniors on the roster – Jacy Sheldon, Rebeka Mikulasikova, Eboni Walker, Hevynne Bristow and Karla Vres – still have their extra year of eligibility and will decide whether to return for another year after the season, per an Ohio State spokesperson.
• Sheldon missed her fifth game in a row and 23rd overall game this season while continuing to recover from the foot injury that has sidelined her for most of the year.
• For the fourth straight game, Ohio State’s starting lineup consisted of Walker, Thierry, McMahon, Mikesell and Harris. Mikulasikova, who started the Buckeyes’ first 25 games of the year, came off the bench.
• The Buckeyes entered Friday’s game as a projected No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State was ranked 12th in the final pre-tournament rankings released by the Division I selection committee on Thursday.