The Buckeyes earned their biggest win of the season in front of their largest home crowd ever.
It took five extra minutes, but Ohio State earned a 100-92 overtime victory over No. 2 Iowa, in front of a program attendance record crowd of 18,660 people at the Schottenstein Center – the largest crowd for any indoor game in women’s college basketball this season.
Iowa star Caitlin Clark scored 45 points, but Ohio State ended the Hawkeyes’ 15-game winning streak to improve to 15-3 on the season and 6-1 in Big Ten play. Cotie McMahon led five double-digit scorers for the Buckeyes with a career-high 33 points, while Jacy Sheldon added 24 points for the home team.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #2 IOWA | 26 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 9 | 92 |
| #18 OHIO STATE | 24 | 19 | 15 | 25 | 17 | 100 |
First Half
McMahon came out of the gates hot, scoring 11 points in the game’s first seven minutes to give Ohio State an early 20-17 lead. Clark put her stamp on the contest early, too, also scoring 11 points in the first seven minutes as she made her first three 3-point shots of the day.
Clark finished the first quarter with 13 points, most among all players, as Iowa finished the first quarter with a 26-24 lead.
Neither team would take a lead of more than four points until the 5:41 mark of the second quarter when Iowa went up 38-32 off of an 11-3 run. That would be the largest lead for either team in the first half, with Iowa ultimately taking a 45-43 advantage into halftime.
Fast break points made the early difference for the Hawkeyes as Iowa scored 12 fast-break points before halftime compared to zero for the Buckeyes.
Clark finished the first half with 20 points, two rebounds and four assists. McMahon was Ohio State’s leading first-half scorer with 12 points, followed by Taylor Thierry (nine) and Sheldon (eight).
Second Half
| OHIO STATE | STAT | IOWA |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | POINTS | 92 |
| 37-72 (49%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 30-65 (46%) |
| 11-22 (50%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 10-28 (36%) |
| 19-24 (79%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 22-27 (81%) |
| 13 | TURNOVERS | 15 |
| 41 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 37 |
| 13 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 9 |
| 28 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 28 |
| 12 | BENCH POINTS | 12 |
| 5 | BLOCKS | 3 |
| 6 | STEALS | 5 |
| 18 | ASSISTS | 22 |
Clark picked up where she left off after halftime, sinking a pair of 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the third quarter. The Hawkeyes took an eight-point lead, 60-52, with 3:20 to play in the third quarter when Addison O’Grady and Sydney Affolter came off the bench to combine for a 7-point run.
Emma Shumate delivered a response for the Buckeyes as she came off the bench and hit back-to-back threes in her first action of the game to cut the lead back down to two. O’Grady and Affolter combined for another five-point run to extend the Hawkeyes’ lead back to seven before the end of the third quarter.
Clark started the fourth quarter with another three, her sixth of the game, to give Iowa the first double-digit lead of the day. Molly Davis followed that with a layup to extend Iowa’s lead to 12, prompting an Ohio State timeout. With the Hawkeyes on the verge of pulling away, McMahon and Sheldon combined for 15 points in just over three minutes, cutting Iowa’s lead to just two points, 75-73, with 5:24 to play.
Celeste Taylor gave Ohio State its first lead of the second half, 77-76, on a layup with 3:42 to play. Clark responded with a pair of layups to put Iowa back up by three.
A pair of free throws by Thierry on Ohio State’s next possession cut the lead back down to one with 2:23 to play. A pair of free throws by Clark extended Iowa’s lead back to three with 1:21 to play. McMahon cut the lead back to one on Ohio State’s next possession.
Taylor put the Buckeyes back in front, 83-82, with 16 seconds left to play. Hannah Stuelke had a chance to give Iowa the lead after getting fouled on the Hawkeyes’ subsequent possession, but she made only one of two free throws. A missed three by Sheldon in the game’s final seconds sent the contest to overtime.
Overtime
McMahon scored six of the first eight points of overtime to give Ohio State an 89-85 lead. Clark responded with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one, but Sheldon put the Buckeyes ahead by three on Ohio State’s next trip down the floor. A three by Rebeka Mikulasikova on Ohio State’s following possession extended the Buckeyes’ lead to six with just 1:14 to play.
After a pair of free throws by Clark cut the lead back to four, McMahon made it a six-point game again with just 43 seconds to play on another drive to the basket. Kate Martin missed a three on Iowa’s next trip down the floor and Sheldon sunk a pair of free throws to give Ohio State a commanding eight-point load with 30 seconds left to play.
What’s Next
Ohio State will play back-to-back road games against Illinois (Thursday, 7 p.m., Peacock) and Purdue (Sunday, 2 p.m., B1G+). The Buckeyes will host Wisconsin in their next home game on Feb. 1 (6 p.m., Big Ten Network).
Game Notes
- Former Ohio State football star Marvin Harrison Jr. was honored at the Schottenstein Center for the second day in a row after he was also recognized during Saturday’s men’s basketball game against Penn State.
- The win is Ohio State’s first this season against a team currently ranked in the AP Top 25.
- Caitlin Clark said she was OK after getting run into by an Ohio State fan during the postgame court-storming. She said Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith apologized to her for the incident.
