Freshman guard Kelsey Mitchell (3) dribbles the ball during a game against Minnesota on Jan. 15 at the Schottenstein Center. OSU lost, 76-72.
Credit: Mark Batke / Photo editor
Too little too late was the story for the Ohio State women’s basketball team when it attempted to climb out of a 20-point hole against No.16 Iowa on the road.
In the end, the hole was just too deep as the Buckeyes fell to the Hawkeyes, 73-65, in Iowa City.
With the loss, OSU had its four-game win streak snapped, and has dropped to 15-8 on the year and 7-4 in the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes found themselves down early after sloppy play allowed the Hawkeyes to turn OSU turnovers into points on the other end. With this, OSU found itself down, 32-12, early in the first half.
After turnovers downed the Buckeyes, they cut the lead to 37-29 with three minutes to go in the first half before Iowa stretched it back out to 41-29.
The second half brought a cleaner OSU team that fought its way back into the game, cutting the deficit to 55-54 with 8:55 to go. However, that was as close as the Buckeyes got. OSU made just one field goal over the remainder of the game, allowing Iowa to escape with the win.
A nightly total of 21 turnovers and not enough offensive power proved to be the deal breaker for Ohio State who was trying to avenge its loss to Iowa in last year’s Big Ten Championship semifinal game.
Freshman guard Kelsey Mitchell, who was averaging 26 points per contest, shot just 4-of-12 from the field. With 15 points to round out the night, she was still at the top of the scoring column for the Buckeyes.
Freshman forward Alexa Hart recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore Shayla Cooper tallied a double-double of her own with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
However, the loss gives the Buckeyes one silver lining: with her 15 points, Mitchell passed Katie Smith for most points by an OSU freshman with 587 points thus far.
Ally Disterhoft led the way with 21 points for the Hawkeyes who have advanced to 18-4 on the season.
OSU is scheduled to be back in action Sunday, at home against Indiana. Tip is set for 2 p.m.
