Ohio State women’s basketball is in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes took the outright lead in the conference by winning their 11th straight game on Sunday, blowing out Michigan State 86-71 in East Lansing.
Ohio State, which is now 21-3 overall and 12-1 in Big Ten play, has a one-game lead over Iowa and Indiana in the Big Ten standings after Iowa suffered its second loss in conference play on Sunday, falling 82-79 to Nebraska.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #5 OHIO STATE | 26 | 27 | 22 | 11 | 86 |
| MICHIGAN STATE | 19 | 12 | 16 | 24 | 71 |
Celeste Taylor (20 points), Rebeka Mikulasikova (19), Jacy Sheldon (18) and Taylor Thierry (12) all scored in double figures to lead Ohio State to its latest victory, which completed a season sweep of the Spartans (17-7, 7-6 Big Ten).
Taylor scored 10 points in the first quarter to lead the Buckeyes to a 26-19 start in the game’s opening 10 minutes. The Buckeyes proceeded to score the first eight points of the second quarter to build a 15-point lead.
Ohio State had to lean on its backups to play extended minutes in the second quarter as Cotie McMahon, Thierry and Sheldon all picked up three fouls by the middle of the second quarter. Even so, the Buckeyes built a 22-point lead by halftime. Taylor (16), Mikulasikova (11) and Sheldon (10) all reached double digits before halftime, while the Buckeyes’ bench scored 11 first-half points as Ohio State took a 53-31 advantage into the break.
| OHIO STATE | STAT | MICHIGAN STATE |
|---|---|---|
| 86 | POINTS | 71 |
| 34-59 (57.6%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 23-53 (43.4%) |
| 8-14 (57.1%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 6-17 (35.3%) |
| 10-11 (90.9%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 19-25 (76%) |
| 15 | TURNOVERS | 16 |
| 31 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 27 |
| 5 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 7 |
| 26 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 20 |
| 11 | BENCH POINTS | 28 |
| 2 | BLOCKS | 3 |
| 8 | STEALS | 5 |
| 28 | ASSISTS | 16 |
The Buckeyes started the second half on a 10-2 run to extend their lead to 31 points. Mikulasikova and Sheldon each scored eight points in the third quarter, and Ohio State took a 75-47 lead into the fourth quarter, allowing the Buckeyes to take their starters out of the game midway through the fourth quarter and coast to victory.
The 11-game winning streak is Ohio State’s longest winning streak in Big Ten games since it won its final 11 games of the regular season in 2017 to earn a share of the regular-season conference title.
Ohio State will look to extend its current winning streak to 12 games when it hosts Nebraska at the Schottenstein Center on Wednesday (7 p.m., Peacock).
Already ranked fifth in the AP Top 25, Ohio State could now be poised to rise to as high as second in the AP poll – which will be updated Monday – after No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 N.C. State and No. 4 Colorado all suffered losses over the past week.
