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No. 2 Ohio State women’s basketball falls in Iowa City 93-83 over No. 6 Iowa
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Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
The two top teams in the Big Ten battled in Iowa City, but the Buckeyes couldn’t mount another comeback.
The No. 2 Ohio State women’s basketball celebrated its 16th Big Ten title on Wednesday. On Sunday, it was time to close out the regular season and it doesn’t get much bigger than doing it in Iowa City, against the No. 6 Iowa Hawkeyes. In guard Caitlin Clark’s final regular season game playing on campus, no title or conference tournament seeding would be determined but each team continues fighting for a strong NCAA Tournament seed; plus a historic rivalry between schools that’s personal to the Scarlet and Gray.
After defeating the Hawkeyes on Jan. 21 in overtime, the Buckeyes fell to the Hawkeyes 93-83.
Off the jump, it was guard Jacy Sheldon getting the scoring started for the visitors. The graduate senior began the day with a driving layup, then a three-point shot that rolled in off the front of the rim.
Following that 2-for-3 shooting start to the game, the baskets stopped falling. Ohio State missed three contested layups, going 1-for-5 from the floor following its strong start. Iowa played the offense it's known for playing.
The Hawkeyes hit five of their first 10 shots, with only one coming from superstar guard Caitlin Clark who needed 18 points to pass Pete Maravich for Division I all-time leading scorer. However, Clark still had three assists to put the home side up to a 13-7 start.
Defensively, guard Celeste Taylor was responsible for guarding Clark, and the superstar hit only one of her first four attempts from the floor. Taylor had a hand in the guard’s face, as did all of the Buckeye defenders going up against Hawkeye players around the arc.
Clark’s passing continued to exploit the Buckeyes defense. With 2:55 remaining in the quarter, Clark already hit seven assists, the total she hit in Columbus on Jan. 21. That forced a timeout from head coach Kevin McGuff, with his team down 12 points early.
Iowa’s scoring continued, going on a 10-point run before guard Madison Greene finally broke it with a three-point shot. The first make for Ohio State in almost two and a half minutes.
Ohio State ended the quarter by scoring nine of the last 12 points. It cut a 15-point lead down to nine points. Across the board, the Buckeyes struggled in the first half, with Iowa out-rebounding, out-shooting, and passing better than Ohio State.
The start of the second quarter saw the Buckeyes continuing that momentum, although Clark kept responding from deep. The guard hit two, scoring the first eight points of the game and keeping the crowd in the game, until an unfortunate accident for Iowa.
Guard Molly Davis, also being celebrated Sunday for Senior Day, went for a steal on the inbound pass and rolled her ankle, going to the ground and holding her entire lower leg. Davis went to the bench, with help from Iowa’s staff. Davis didn’t return to the game.
From there, the fans in Carver-Hawkeye started booing Ohio State’s Greene, who was in the guard’s proximity when she rolled her ankle. Despite there being no contact between the two players causing the injury.
Despite the crowd going hostile, the Buckeyes mirrored Clark’s deep shooting, hitting two to cut the Iowa lead down to four points, forcing an Iowa timeout.
The two sides traded baskets and it appeared that Ohio State would be down four points going into halftime. That’s when a foul was called on forward Hannah Stuelke, with Greene hitting the ball away and not making contact with the forward. In the lead-up to free throws, Clark walked up and put her shoulder into Buckeyes forward Cotie McMahon. The sophomore turned, lifting her arm slightly, and Clark reacted as if she was hit by the Buckeye, earning a technical foul against the Ohio State player.
Iowa hit four free throws on two debatable calls to increase its lead back to nine points going into the locker room, with Iowa up 48-39. Of the two free throws for Clark, on the technical foul, the second broke the Division I points record, previously held by Pete Maravich.
Sheldon led the Buckeyes with 12 points, compared to 18 points for Clark. Ohio State forced 10 turnovers but was outshot 42.9% to 50%. Iowa had 12 free throws, compared to four for the visitors.
Known for big third-quarter performances, the Buckeyes scored the first seven points to cut its deficit down to a single possession. Ohio State did it with movement inside the paint and the first three of the day by forward Rebeka Mikulášiková, after missing her first two attempts.
However, threes by Clark and guard Gabbie Marshall quickly put the deficit back to eight points, motivating another timeout by McGuff with 6:31 remaining in the quarter.
Out of the timeout, the Scarlet and Gray had another made shot from deep from Mikulášiková, but turnovers hurt the Buckeyes. Iowa expanded the lead back to nine points again with two straight layups, off poor passing leading to turnovers.
McGuff again called a timeout, because it looked like the Buckeyes were too amped up coming out of halftime. Out of the moment to calm, Ohio State responded with two layups, one off a turnover, putting the game back to within two possessions.
Then, another technical foul against the Buckeyes. This time it was guard Rikki Harris. After going out of bounds, Harris was upset with the referees after thinking she was pushed out of bounds. That gave Stuelke a free throw for the bonus and two technical free throws by Clark.
It began a run that ballooned Iowa’s lead up to 17 points, scoring 13 of 14 points in a minute and a half. The game was slipping away from the Buckeyes, and couldn’t slow down Iowa’s conference-leading offensive work.
Even so, Ohio State scored eight of the last 10 to cut its deficit back to 11 points by the end of the quarter. The Buckeyes would need another double-digit comeback in the fourth quarter to defeat the Hawkeyes. It did on Jan. 21, when Ohio State was down 12 points in the fourth quarter.
After expending all timeouts in the third quarter, the margin for error from the visitors was little to none. It didn’t start well for Ohio State. After another Mikulášiková three-point shot, Iowa hit two layups to bring the lead back up to 13 points.
Then, on an inbound pass, Clark received a pass. Taylor and Sheldon descended, with the Buckeyes playing a strong full-court press in the fourth, and Clark called a timeout as Sheldon and Taylor wrestled for the ball. After the whistle, Clark threw Sheldon’s arm up and then pushed her in the chest. Referees looked at it and gave no technical, although it was more contact than McMahon had at the end of the second quarter.
The Buckeyes tried, but there was no stopping the Hawkeyes. Iowa defeated Ohio State 93-83. Although it has no weight in the title or conference tournament seeding, its a game the Buckeyes wanted to win to end the season.
Leading the way for the Scarlet and Gray was Sheldon, scoring 24 points in the defeat.
Making the difference in the Buckeyes’ defeat were trips to the foul line. The Hawkeyes had 23 attempts from the free throw line, compared to eight for the Buckeyes. Overall, Iowa had 15 points more than Ohio State from the line alone.
Of the 23 for Iowa, four of those came from technical fouls picked up by McMahon and Harris.
While it doesn’t look like it, go further behind Clark’s numbers and the Buckeyes had strong spells against the superstar. After having six assists in the first half, Ohio State held Clark to three in the second half. Also, after having two triple-double performances against the Scarlet and Gray last season, Clark was held to under a double-double for the second time this season, against the Buckeyes.
It isn’t much of a consolation prize for Ohio State, but it showed improvement.
In the 10-point defeat, Ohio State hit 14 three-point shots, going 46.7% from the floor. Much of that was because of being down double-digits for most of the second half, but it was also credit to the Iowa defense whose zone forced deep shooting.
Now that the regular season is over, it’s time for the Big Ten Tournament. Friday, the Buckeyes will face the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game. As of publishing, that’s either the Michigan Wolverines or Illinois Fighting Illini, but with the rest of the conference slated to play today, not much of the seeding is certain; except for the No. 1 Buckeyes.
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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
Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
The two top teams in the Big Ten battled in Iowa City, but the Buckeyes couldn’t mount another comeback.
The No. 2 Ohio State women’s basketball celebrated its 16th Big Ten title on Wednesday. On Sunday, it was time to close out the regular season and it doesn’t get much bigger than doing it in Iowa City, against the No. 6 Iowa Hawkeyes. In guard Caitlin Clark’s final regular season game playing on campus, no title or conference tournament seeding would be determined but each team continues fighting for a strong NCAA Tournament seed; plus a historic rivalry between schools that’s personal to the Scarlet and Gray.
After defeating the Hawkeyes on Jan. 21 in overtime, the Buckeyes fell to the Hawkeyes 93-83.
Off the jump, it was guard Jacy Sheldon getting the scoring started for the visitors. The graduate senior began the day with a driving layup, then a three-point shot that rolled in off the front of the rim.
Following that 2-for-3 shooting start to the game, the baskets stopped falling. Ohio State missed three contested layups, going 1-for-5 from the floor following its strong start. Iowa played the offense it's known for playing.
The Hawkeyes hit five of their first 10 shots, with only one coming from superstar guard Caitlin Clark who needed 18 points to pass Pete Maravich for Division I all-time leading scorer. However, Clark still had three assists to put the home side up to a 13-7 start.
Defensively, guard Celeste Taylor was responsible for guarding Clark, and the superstar hit only one of her first four attempts from the floor. Taylor had a hand in the guard’s face, as did all of the Buckeye defenders going up against Hawkeye players around the arc.
Clark’s passing continued to exploit the Buckeyes defense. With 2:55 remaining in the quarter, Clark already hit seven assists, the total she hit in Columbus on Jan. 21. That forced a timeout from head coach Kevin McGuff, with his team down 12 points early.
Iowa’s scoring continued, going on a 10-point run before guard Madison Greene finally broke it with a three-point shot. The first make for Ohio State in almost two and a half minutes.
Ohio State ended the quarter by scoring nine of the last 12 points. It cut a 15-point lead down to nine points. Across the board, the Buckeyes struggled in the first half, with Iowa out-rebounding, out-shooting, and passing better than Ohio State.
The start of the second quarter saw the Buckeyes continuing that momentum, although Clark kept responding from deep. The guard hit two, scoring the first eight points of the game and keeping the crowd in the game, until an unfortunate accident for Iowa.
Guard Molly Davis, also being celebrated Sunday for Senior Day, went for a steal on the inbound pass and rolled her ankle, going to the ground and holding her entire lower leg. Davis went to the bench, with help from Iowa’s staff. Davis didn’t return to the game.
From there, the fans in Carver-Hawkeye started booing Ohio State’s Greene, who was in the guard’s proximity when she rolled her ankle. Despite there being no contact between the two players causing the injury.
Despite the crowd going hostile, the Buckeyes mirrored Clark’s deep shooting, hitting two to cut the Iowa lead down to four points, forcing an Iowa timeout.
The two sides traded baskets and it appeared that Ohio State would be down four points going into halftime. That’s when a foul was called on forward Hannah Stuelke, with Greene hitting the ball away and not making contact with the forward. In the lead-up to free throws, Clark walked up and put her shoulder into Buckeyes forward Cotie McMahon. The sophomore turned, lifting her arm slightly, and Clark reacted as if she was hit by the Buckeye, earning a technical foul against the Ohio State player.
Iowa hit four free throws on two debatable calls to increase its lead back to nine points going into the locker room, with Iowa up 48-39. Of the two free throws for Clark, on the technical foul, the second broke the Division I points record, previously held by Pete Maravich.
Sheldon led the Buckeyes with 12 points, compared to 18 points for Clark. Ohio State forced 10 turnovers but was outshot 42.9% to 50%. Iowa had 12 free throws, compared to four for the visitors.
Known for big third-quarter performances, the Buckeyes scored the first seven points to cut its deficit down to a single possession. Ohio State did it with movement inside the paint and the first three of the day by forward Rebeka Mikulášiková, after missing her first two attempts.
However, threes by Clark and guard Gabbie Marshall quickly put the deficit back to eight points, motivating another timeout by McGuff with 6:31 remaining in the quarter.
Out of the timeout, the Scarlet and Gray had another made shot from deep from Mikulášiková, but turnovers hurt the Buckeyes. Iowa expanded the lead back to nine points again with two straight layups, off poor passing leading to turnovers.
McGuff again called a timeout, because it looked like the Buckeyes were too amped up coming out of halftime. Out of the moment to calm, Ohio State responded with two layups, one off a turnover, putting the game back to within two possessions.
Then, another technical foul against the Buckeyes. This time it was guard Rikki Harris. After going out of bounds, Harris was upset with the referees after thinking she was pushed out of bounds. That gave Stuelke a free throw for the bonus and two technical free throws by Clark.
It began a run that ballooned Iowa’s lead up to 17 points, scoring 13 of 14 points in a minute and a half. The game was slipping away from the Buckeyes, and couldn’t slow down Iowa’s conference-leading offensive work.
Even so, Ohio State scored eight of the last 10 to cut its deficit back to 11 points by the end of the quarter. The Buckeyes would need another double-digit comeback in the fourth quarter to defeat the Hawkeyes. It did on Jan. 21, when Ohio State was down 12 points in the fourth quarter.
After expending all timeouts in the third quarter, the margin for error from the visitors was little to none. It didn’t start well for Ohio State. After another Mikulášiková three-point shot, Iowa hit two layups to bring the lead back up to 13 points.
Then, on an inbound pass, Clark received a pass. Taylor and Sheldon descended, with the Buckeyes playing a strong full-court press in the fourth, and Clark called a timeout as Sheldon and Taylor wrestled for the ball. After the whistle, Clark threw Sheldon’s arm up and then pushed her in the chest. Referees looked at it and gave no technical, although it was more contact than McMahon had at the end of the second quarter.
The Buckeyes tried, but there was no stopping the Hawkeyes. Iowa defeated Ohio State 93-83. Although it has no weight in the title or conference tournament seeding, its a game the Buckeyes wanted to win to end the season.
Leading the way for the Scarlet and Gray was Sheldon, scoring 24 points in the defeat.
Free Throw Disparity
Making the difference in the Buckeyes’ defeat were trips to the foul line. The Hawkeyes had 23 attempts from the free throw line, compared to eight for the Buckeyes. Overall, Iowa had 15 points more than Ohio State from the line alone.
Of the 23 for Iowa, four of those came from technical fouls picked up by McMahon and Harris.
Better Clark Defense
While it doesn’t look like it, go further behind Clark’s numbers and the Buckeyes had strong spells against the superstar. After having six assists in the first half, Ohio State held Clark to three in the second half. Also, after having two triple-double performances against the Scarlet and Gray last season, Clark was held to under a double-double for the second time this season, against the Buckeyes.
It isn’t much of a consolation prize for Ohio State, but it showed improvement.
Three-Point High
In the 10-point defeat, Ohio State hit 14 three-point shots, going 46.7% from the floor. Much of that was because of being down double-digits for most of the second half, but it was also credit to the Iowa defense whose zone forced deep shooting.
What’s Next
Now that the regular season is over, it’s time for the Big Ten Tournament. Friday, the Buckeyes will face the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game. As of publishing, that’s either the Michigan Wolverines or Illinois Fighting Illini, but with the rest of the conference slated to play today, not much of the seeding is certain; except for the No. 1 Buckeyes.
Continue reading...