Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff talks with the Buckeyes during a timeout during the Ohio State-Kent State on Dec. 2. Ohio State won 103-47. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
The Jerome Schottenstein Center was the site of redemption Monday.
No. 14 Ohio State (9-1) out-dueled No. 7 Maryland (11-2) 88-86 on Monday, their second win against an AP Top-25 opponent in as many games.
The Buckeyes lost all three games against the Terrapins in 2019-20, including a loss in the Big Ten championship game.
Senior guard Braxtin Miller said the win felt good after last year’s defeat.
“Nobody likes to be 0-3 against a team so obviously we wanted to come out and win,” Miller said. “If that wasn’t the case I think there is a lot of motivation in them being who they are and where they’re at and just the competition that we know that they are going to be.”
The Buckeyes not only snapped their own losing streak to the Terrapins, but they also broke Maryland’s 24-game conference winning streak.
Strong defense paved the way for the Buckeyes, as they forced 16 turnovers which they turned into 27 points.
Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said that the aggressiveness and energy of Ohio State was her team’s demise.
“They’re just a team that is really scrappy and I thought their guard play dominated for 40 minutes tonight,” Frese said. “They were very consistent and I thought they were able to get their hands in on aggressive plays.”
The Buckeyes played from behind for most of the second quarter before reclaiming the lead behind a strong second half offensive showing.
A three pronged offensive attack lifted the Buckeyes, as sophomore guards Madison Greene, senior guard Braxtin Miller and sophomore guard Jacy Sheldon all tallied double-digit scoring nights.
Greene said that preparation was key to their offensive success.
“I feel like we did a great job preparing for this team. We really listened to coach and handled the game plan well,” Greene said.
All nine Buckeyes that saw the court scored.
The Terrapins countered with a five player offensive blitz.
Senior guard Katie Benzan, sophomore guard Ashley Owusu, senior forward Chole Bibby and sophomore guard Diamond Miller had double digits in the scoring column for Maryland.
Greene said that aggressiveness was key to slowing the Terrapin offense.
“With knowing your personnel we just had to watch a lot of film and know who we were about to play,” Greene said. “If we were guarding a shooter we would try to stay up on them or if we were guarding Owusu or anyone like that we could match their game and slow them down,”
Despite the notable absence of junior forward Aaliyah Patty, the Buckeyes beat the Terrapins off the boards, corralling 44 rebounds.
In her stead, graduate forward Tanaya Beachem came down with eight rebounds, three of which came off the offensive glass.
Rebounds were crucial as the Buckeyes posted 14 out of their 88 points off 17 second chance opportunities.
Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said that discipline and leadership are needed to refocus looking ahead to another tough opponent this week.
“We need some leadership out of our upperclassmen and show some maturity,” McGuff said. “I’ll certainly remind them that we’ve been good the last two games because we’ve practiced really well and that’s the way it works. There’s no shortcut around it. You have to practice the right way to get ready for the next game.”
Ohio State will take on the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall Thursday at 8 p.m.
