Ohio State women’s basketball falls to Maryland 82-61 in early tournament exit
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The Terrapins started off fast, Ohio State responded, but couldn’t keep up with Maryland for 40 minutes
The postseason officially began for
Ohio State women’s basketball on Friday. Up first was a tough tournament test against a team that the Buckeyes have ample
Big Ten Tournament history against the
Maryland Terrapins. Although it isn’t in a tournament final, like the two team’s previous three meetings, the extra eyes of a sellout crowd in Minneapolis, Minnesota gave it the tournament-final kind of feeling.
Although Ohio State entered as the No. 1 seed and hasn’t lost under head coach Kevin McGuff in the first game when it enters in the quarterfinals, the Terps made up for two regular season losses to the Buckeyes. Maryland moves on after defeating Ohio State soundly. Terps move on after an 82-61 upset victory.
Entering Friday, the Terrapins had the advantage of playing the day before. It not only meant they were in better playing form but knowing the court and basket pays dividends. It looked like the Buckeyes were cold from the jump.
Without a full practice on the court, Ohio State missed its first four shots of the quarter, plus two missed free throws. It took over two and a half minutes before the Buckeyes got onto the scoreboard, thanks to a three-point shot by forward Rebeka Mikulášiková.
Even so, Maryland built a quick five-point lead before the Buckeyes’ passing put them back into the game. Partly because it gave Ohio State higher efficiency attempts in the paint. Forward Taylor Thierry hit two layups, with one teardrop layup while going around the Maryland defense.
Of the Scarlet and Gray’s first five baskets, each one came with an assist. The Buckeyes took advantage of a game that started at a rapid pace. Then, with shots going in, the Ohio State full-court press could get to work. The Buckeyes went on an eight-point run to earn its first lead of the game.
Ohio State was everywhere, even on the Maryland bench when guard Rikki Harris collided with Terrapins head coach Brenda Frese. The legendary program leader for the Terps was fine, helping Harris up and smiling the contact off.
Despite being outrebounded 17-10 in the first 10 minutes, the Buckeyes forced six turnovers and ended the quarter with a 17-12 lead.
That lead wouldn't last. The slow start of the first quarter transferred over to the second for Ohio State. Coach McGuff’s side went 1-for-5 from the floor in the first three and a half minutes of the period. Outside of a layup by Mikulášiková, Maryland scored nine of the first 11 points.
Also, the Buckeyes’ bench depth took a hit. In five minutes on the court in the first half, Harris picked up three fouls and a spot back on the sidelines. After a blocking foul, Harris had two fouls called off the ball.
Maryland guard Brinae Alexander, the leading three-point shooter for Coach Frese’s side, hit two in a row, from deep. The two shots were part of an 11-point Terps run in the first half of the second quarter. It dug the Buckeyes into a seven-point deficit with half the quarter to go before halftime.
While Ohio State trimmed it to four points with a three-point shot by guard Madison Greene, a first half of struggle for sophomore forward Cotie McMahon was the difference in the scoreline.
McMahon started the game going 0-for-8 from the floor, and 3-for-8 from the free throw line. The forward still contributed with four first-half rebounds but without layups falling, Maryland grew stronger in its zone defense.
Guard Jacy Sheldon, who led Ohio State with eight points in the first half, got a little momentum going back the Buckeyes’ way with 1:18 remaining in the quarter. Sheldon hit a layup, followed by a steal and layup by guard Celeste Taylor on the inbound pass. It cut the lead to five, but Maryland’s Alexander followed it up with her third three of the game.
Ohio State’s McMahon responded, hitting her first shot from the floor, but guard Shyanne Sellers pushed its lead back to eight points at the buzzer. At the top of the key, Sellers pulled up to hit a midrange shot, releasing it with less than a second remaining on the clock.
Maryland took a 38-30 lead into the halftime locker room, leading the Buckeyes in points, assists, and +14 in rebounding.
After the Terps hit its first shot of the quarter, the Buckeyes offense looked revitalized after the halftime break. Ohio State trimmed its 10-point deficit down to five, starting again with a Mikulášiková three-pointer. Then, two assists by McMahon to Sheldon and Thierry created two layup baskets for the Scarlet and Gray.
Then, a potentially scary moment for the Terps. McDaniel and McMahon went for a rebound and the two made contact. McDaniel went to the ground and her head hit the court. The sophomore needed help getting off the court, but would soon return.
Halting Ohio State’s scoring momentum was a foul called against and on McMahon. The forward went to the basket and Sellers made contact. Then, on the followthrough, McMahon’s arm made contact with Maryland forward Allie Kubek. After a review, both teams took free throws with McMahon hitting both and Sellers missing both. It got Ohio State to within a possession.
It was a short-lived, single-possession deficit, with forward Jakia Brown-Turner and Sellers hitting three combined layups, with the last of the three ending with a free throw to extend the lead back to 10 points. Ohio State couldn’t find an answer against Maryland.
The lead continued to increase, thanks to a nine-point run by the Terps. Ohio State’s Taylor hit a three-point shot to stop it, but then forward Faith Masonius hit a layup and free throw to completely negate the shot.
Overall, the game felt a lot like Ohio State’s last game of the regular season, against the
Iowa Hawkeyes. Regardless of what the Buckeyes tried, its opponent had an answer for everything.
Then, a technical was assessed to McGuff. That’s after Masonius put her arm up when McMahon went for a rebound, making contact with McMahon’s face. In the run of play, Maryland ran down the court and Alexander hit a three-point shot while McGuff was yelling at the referees.
After reviewing the call, no foul was assessed to Masonius, instead going to McGuff. That gave Maryland the three-point shot, plus two free throws and possession. Then, another foul against Ohio State put the Terps in the bonus and its lead increased to 19 points.
Maybe it was the technical or the mounting feeling of an early tournament exit, but the Buckeyes responded at the end of the quarter. In less than a minute, Ohio State went on an eight-point run, featuring three layups by McMahon and Thierry. Each also turned one of their layups into an extra trip to the line. McMahon hit the final one to cut the deficit to 11 points.
However, Sellers hit the final shot of the quarter, going back up 13 points at the end of the third quarter. The Buckeyes had 10 minutes to create another Big Ten Tournament comeback story after returning from 24 points down against the
Indiana Hoosiers last season.
After a midrange jumper by Taylor to start the last quarter, Maryland went on a six-point run, all but putting the nail in the coffin of the Buckeyes’ Big Ten tournament.
With the lead, Maryland slowed the game down, taking the car from 60 to zero. With each Ohio State miss (starting the quarter going 1-for-6), the Terrapins ran the clock down close to zero. Even if shots were falling for the Buckeyes, it was cutting down the available time to mount any kind of response.
Alexander added more points for the Terps, scoring her fifth three-point shot of the game. With five minutes remaining, the Buckeyes stared into the face of an insurmountable 18-point deficit.
Maryland chose a good time to win its first ranked-game of the season, defeating the Buckeyes 82-61.
Sellers, who didn’t play over 30 minutes in any previous game against the Buckeyes this season, due to fouls, led everyone in scoring with 25 points in 40 minutes. Plus seven rebounds and seven assists.
What’s Next
With the early defeat in the tournament, the Buckeyes wait until March 17, when the NCAA announces its field for the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Ohio State is likely to obtain a top-four seed to host the first two rounds of the tournament. Who their opponent will be, and which bracket they sit in (either Albany, New York or Portland, Oregon) will be announced live at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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