Ohio State is on to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Ohio State women’s basketball team earned a first-round NCAA Tournament win for the fourth straight year as the fourth-seeded Buckeyes defeated No. 13 seed Montana State, 71-51, on Friday at the Schottenstein Center.
A 24-0 run by the Buckeyes between the second and third quarters turned a tight game into a rout for the home team. Taylor Thierry led the Buckeyes with 16 points while Chance Gray – who made five 3-pointers – and Cotie McMahon each scored 15. All five starters scored in double figures as Jaloni Cambridge added 12 and Ajae Petty scored 11.
Ohio State will play No. 5 seed Tennessee at the Schottenstein Center on Sunday after the Volunteers defeated No. 12 seed South Florida, 101-66, on Friday. Ohio State vs. Tennessee will tip off at 8 p.m. Sunday and will be televised by ESPN.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #13 MONTANA STATE | 17 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 51 |
| #4 OHIO STATE | 17 | 15 | 23 | 14 | 71 |
Ohio State faced resistance from its visitors from the Big Sky in the first half. The Buckeyes fell into an early 10-6 hole as they turned the ball over three times in the first four minutes before evening up the score with a pair of fast-break layups from Petty and Thierry. Ohio State and Montana State finished the first quarter tied 17-17 as the Bobcats answered a 7-0 run by Ohio State with the final five points of the period.
The Buckeyes started the second quarter with a 6-0 run that included Gray making her second three of the game, but Montana State’s Natalie Picton tied the game with a pair of 3-pointers. Kevin McGuff was called for a technical foul after Picton’s second three for arguing a questionable foul call against Thierry, her third personal foul of the game; Picton made the subsequent free throws and a layup on Montana State’s ensuing possession to give the visitors a 27-23 lead halfway through the second quarter.
That’s when Ohio State took the game over.
| MONTANA STATE | STAT | OHIO STATE |
|---|---|---|
| 51 | POINTS | 71 |
| 15-37 (41%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 28-55 (51%) |
| 8-22 (36%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 5-17 (29%) |
| 13-16 (81%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 10-17 (59%) |
| 26 | TURNOVERS | 16 |
| 23 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 33 |
| 6 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 15 |
| 17 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 18 |
| 14 | BENCH POINTS | 2 |
| 1 | BLOCKS | 2 |
| 7 | STEALS | 14 |
| 6 | ASSISTS | 17 |
After a scoring drought of more than four minutes, Ohio State retook the lead with a pair of Cambridge free throws and a McMahon three-point play. A turnaround jumper from McMahon and a fast-break layup off a steal by Cambridge would be the final points of the half, giving Ohio State a 32-27 lead at the break.
Gray hit 3-pointers on each of Ohio State’s first three possessions after halftime to make it a 14-point game. Cambridge, McMahon and Petty each scored to make it 24 consecutive points for the Buckeyes before Esmerelda Morales finally ended Montana State’s scoring drought with a three. Ohio State went on an 8-0 run from there to take a 25-point lead before Montana State finished the third quarter on a 7-0 run to make it 55-37 entering the fourth quarter.
That was as close as Montana State would come to getting back in the game as Ohio State started the fourth quarter on a 7-1 run to extend its lead back to 24 points. Ohio State coasted to a 20-point victory from there as backups Madison Greene, Kennedy Cambridge, Eboni Walker and Ava Watson finished out the game alongside Petty.
McGuff was pleased with how his team played in the second half to take control of the game and earn a first-round NCAA Tournament, but told the Buckeyes they must quickly turn their focus to preparing for the next game in just two days.
“Enjoy this one but it's short-lived,” McGuff said. “We'll watch the next game. We've got two really good teams with two distinctive styles of play. We need to lock in, make sure we get good eyes on that and show up tomorrow, use our practice time to get as prepared as possible and we know we're going to have a really tough game on Sunday.”
It won’t be hard for McGuff to get that message across to his players as Ohio State looks to avoid a repeat of last year, when the Buckeyes suffered a second-round NCAA Tournament loss to Duke.
“Definitely not trying to repeat that,” Thierry said after Friday’s game. “Just going in with a different mindset. I think we have a really special group. We’re capable of doing some really great things this year, and I think just taking it one game at a time, not looking too far ahead. I mean, really, we were just looking at Montana State, not even looking at Tennessee. But now we're in a position that we're just going to lock in and prepare for Tennessee tomorrow and just do everything we can to have a good game against them.”
Game Notes
- Ohio State is now 8-0 in first-round NCAA Tournament games under Kevin McGuff.
- Watson returned to action for the first time since suffering an injury in Ohio State’s Feb. 13 win over Minnesota. She did not score.
- Freshman center Elsa Lemmilä did not play due to a foot injury. She wore a walking boot on the bench.
