LGHL What went wrong for Ohio State women’s basketball vs. UCLA
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What went wrong for Ohio State women’s basketball vs. UCLA
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images
The Buckeyes had chances to upset the No. 1 team in the nation, but fell short in key, preventable areas.
No. 8 Ohio State women’s basketball entered the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s game against the No. 1 UCLA Bruins down two points. Soon it was tied, and all appearances showed that the final quarter would be a closely contested matchup between two of the top three teams in the Big Ten.
Then the bottom fell out.
“We had turnovers and we didn’t rebound,” said head coach Kevin McGuff. “We had done a great job with both of those for the most part throughout the game and UCLA really made us pay down the stretch there.”
UCLA guard Kiki Rice scored four quick points with the game tied, and the Buckeyes were finished. The Bruins scored 15 of the next 16 points and ran away to a 13-point victory. A far cry from last season’s seven-point defeat that featured a 15-point comeback from the Buckeyes in the final quarter.
On Wednesday, Ohio State barely hit double digit scoring in the fourth quarter, with a last second three-point shot that made no difference in the final outcome to reach 10 for the frame.
What led to that anticlimactic ending was preventable for the Buckeyes on a night where the formula to beat the Bruins was clear, but lacked the 40 minutes of execution needed to end the winning streak of the nation’s only undefeated remaining Division I program.
In the first quarter, McGuff’s plan for 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts was working. Forward Ajae Petty and center Elsa Lemmilä took turns guarding the big, and instead of trying to defend her one-on-one and keep her from attacking the basket, the Buckeyes’ plan was to stop the ball from getting to Betts in the first place.
Ohio State bigs saw passes building and jumped in front of the UCLA center, leaping to intercept or smacking the ball away to limit possessions. In the first quarter, the Buckeyes held Betts to three points and only two shots.
At the same time, on the offensive side of the court, Ohio State built up a seven-point lead despite going 4-of-13 from the floor to start the game. That was possible because there wasn’t a double or triple team on Betts, meaning outlets were cut off and the Buckeyes contested UCLA shots.
Then in the second quarter, pass anticipation against Betts stopped. Petty played more traditional defense on the center and Betts responded with eight points in the first six minutes, outscoring the Buckeyes by six points all by herself.
The Buckeyes went 1-of-7 from the floor in that span, but Lemmilä entered the game and the freshman settled things down on both sides of the court. Lemmilä and the Ohio State defense limited Betts to two shots in the final four minutes, with fewer passes making their way into the center’s hands. The Finnish center also scored two baskets in the paint, one contested by two Bruins but Lemmilä fought through contact.
For the second half, down six points, UCLA went back to the paint, scoring their first eight points in the post. McGuff put his starting five onto the court, which is the usual rotation employed by the coach, but Lemmilä didn’t enter the game until seven minutes came off the game clock.
“I thought Petty was really fighting hard with Betts around the basket,” said McGuff. We were trying to keep both of them sort of fresh so they could both have the energy to compete with her around the basket.”
When Lemmilä came into the game, Betts left the court to rest her only minutes of the second half. Thanks to a 16-point third quarter by forward Cotie McMahon and guard Jaloni Cambridge combined, and the best shooting quarter of the game for Ohio State at 40 percent, Ohio State entered the final quarter down two points.
Lemmilä entered the game after UCLA scored four of their first six points in the paint, and Betts didn’t score again for UCLA, despite playing all 10 minutes of the final quarter. Even so, at that point the Bruins run was up to six points, and their lead up to nine, and no shooting came to Ohio State’s rescue.
The theme throughout most of the night was poor shooting, and most of it was not shot selection issues. Throughout the night, Ohio State just missed open chances, no other way to put it.
Cambridge went 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, while the rest of the team went 0-for-13. Shooting guard Chance Gray had six points, and missed all four attempts from deep, now on a run of shooting 1-of-16 from long distance in the last four games.
Outside of McMahon and Cambridge who scored 14 and 21 points respectively, the other three Buckeye starters accounted for nine points, with guard/forward Taylor Thierry accounting for the other three. Petty had zero points, mainly due to the presence of Betts in the interior. Petty also left four points at the free throw line.
Petty is the third Ohio State starter to score zero points in a game in the last four games, joining Gray scoring nothing against the Maryland Terrapins and Cambridge’s foul trouble holding her off the stat sheet against Nebraska.
After the game, McMahon was asked what the defense did to make shooting so difficult on Ohio State.
“I don’t think their defense was anything that stopped us, honestly,” said McMahon. “I think we just, we got great shots, we got to the basket, we just weren’t finishing.”
It’s hard to argue against McMahon’s claim with the open looks missed, or possessions rushed. Ohio State also missed seven free throws, gave UCLA eight points off turnovers and had less second chance points than UCLA (8-3) despite the Buckeyes grabbing four more offensive rebounds than the home side.
Regardless, the Buckeyes weren’t too low following the game, and the moments when defense was working, and the team got off to a rare hot start, were good reasons to take some positives into Saturday’s game at No. 7 USC.
“Cotie [McMahon] came in the locker room, she just told us not to hold our head down,” said Cambridge. “We had a good fight, just didn’t come out on top. But at the end of the day, if we want to be a successful team, we can’t look back and be like, we should have done this, just move on to the next game.”
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ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images
The Buckeyes had chances to upset the No. 1 team in the nation, but fell short in key, preventable areas.
No. 8 Ohio State women’s basketball entered the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s game against the No. 1 UCLA Bruins down two points. Soon it was tied, and all appearances showed that the final quarter would be a closely contested matchup between two of the top three teams in the Big Ten.
Then the bottom fell out.
“We had turnovers and we didn’t rebound,” said head coach Kevin McGuff. “We had done a great job with both of those for the most part throughout the game and UCLA really made us pay down the stretch there.”
UCLA guard Kiki Rice scored four quick points with the game tied, and the Buckeyes were finished. The Bruins scored 15 of the next 16 points and ran away to a 13-point victory. A far cry from last season’s seven-point defeat that featured a 15-point comeback from the Buckeyes in the final quarter.
On Wednesday, Ohio State barely hit double digit scoring in the fourth quarter, with a last second three-point shot that made no difference in the final outcome to reach 10 for the frame.
What led to that anticlimactic ending was preventable for the Buckeyes on a night where the formula to beat the Bruins was clear, but lacked the 40 minutes of execution needed to end the winning streak of the nation’s only undefeated remaining Division I program.
Defensive Strategy
In the first quarter, McGuff’s plan for 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts was working. Forward Ajae Petty and center Elsa Lemmilä took turns guarding the big, and instead of trying to defend her one-on-one and keep her from attacking the basket, the Buckeyes’ plan was to stop the ball from getting to Betts in the first place.
Ohio State bigs saw passes building and jumped in front of the UCLA center, leaping to intercept or smacking the ball away to limit possessions. In the first quarter, the Buckeyes held Betts to three points and only two shots.
At the same time, on the offensive side of the court, Ohio State built up a seven-point lead despite going 4-of-13 from the floor to start the game. That was possible because there wasn’t a double or triple team on Betts, meaning outlets were cut off and the Buckeyes contested UCLA shots.
Then in the second quarter, pass anticipation against Betts stopped. Petty played more traditional defense on the center and Betts responded with eight points in the first six minutes, outscoring the Buckeyes by six points all by herself.
The Buckeyes went 1-of-7 from the floor in that span, but Lemmilä entered the game and the freshman settled things down on both sides of the court. Lemmilä and the Ohio State defense limited Betts to two shots in the final four minutes, with fewer passes making their way into the center’s hands. The Finnish center also scored two baskets in the paint, one contested by two Bruins but Lemmilä fought through contact.
For the second half, down six points, UCLA went back to the paint, scoring their first eight points in the post. McGuff put his starting five onto the court, which is the usual rotation employed by the coach, but Lemmilä didn’t enter the game until seven minutes came off the game clock.
“I thought Petty was really fighting hard with Betts around the basket,” said McGuff. We were trying to keep both of them sort of fresh so they could both have the energy to compete with her around the basket.”
When Lemmilä came into the game, Betts left the court to rest her only minutes of the second half. Thanks to a 16-point third quarter by forward Cotie McMahon and guard Jaloni Cambridge combined, and the best shooting quarter of the game for Ohio State at 40 percent, Ohio State entered the final quarter down two points.
Lemmilä entered the game after UCLA scored four of their first six points in the paint, and Betts didn’t score again for UCLA, despite playing all 10 minutes of the final quarter. Even so, at that point the Bruins run was up to six points, and their lead up to nine, and no shooting came to Ohio State’s rescue.
Shooting
The theme throughout most of the night was poor shooting, and most of it was not shot selection issues. Throughout the night, Ohio State just missed open chances, no other way to put it.
Cambridge went 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, while the rest of the team went 0-for-13. Shooting guard Chance Gray had six points, and missed all four attempts from deep, now on a run of shooting 1-of-16 from long distance in the last four games.
Outside of McMahon and Cambridge who scored 14 and 21 points respectively, the other three Buckeye starters accounted for nine points, with guard/forward Taylor Thierry accounting for the other three. Petty had zero points, mainly due to the presence of Betts in the interior. Petty also left four points at the free throw line.
Petty is the third Ohio State starter to score zero points in a game in the last four games, joining Gray scoring nothing against the Maryland Terrapins and Cambridge’s foul trouble holding her off the stat sheet against Nebraska.
After the game, McMahon was asked what the defense did to make shooting so difficult on Ohio State.
“I don’t think their defense was anything that stopped us, honestly,” said McMahon. “I think we just, we got great shots, we got to the basket, we just weren’t finishing.”
It’s hard to argue against McMahon’s claim with the open looks missed, or possessions rushed. Ohio State also missed seven free throws, gave UCLA eight points off turnovers and had less second chance points than UCLA (8-3) despite the Buckeyes grabbing four more offensive rebounds than the home side.
Regardless, the Buckeyes weren’t too low following the game, and the moments when defense was working, and the team got off to a rare hot start, were good reasons to take some positives into Saturday’s game at No. 7 USC.
“Cotie [McMahon] came in the locker room, she just told us not to hold our head down,” said Cambridge. “We had a good fight, just didn’t come out on top. But at the end of the day, if we want to be a successful team, we can’t look back and be like, we should have done this, just move on to the next game.”
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