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Ohio State senior guard Jacy Sheldon (4) drives the ball in the lane before halftime during No. 14 Ohio State’s (1-0) 87-75 win over No. 5 Tennessee (0-1) on Tuesday. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor

Senior forward Rebeka Mikulasikova scored a career-high 23 points and added 10 rebounds while senior guard Jacy Sheldon scored 14 points and tallied 11 steals in No. 14 Ohio State’s 82-64 win over Boston College Sunday at the Silvio O. Conte Forum Sunday.

After their season-opening victory against No. 5 Tennessee Tuesday, the Buckeyes (2-0) once again relied on their full-court press to dismantle the Boston College offense. Head coach Kevin McGuff said he was impressed with his team’s performance following their big win.

“We played really, really hard,” McGuff said. “We were a little sloppy with the ball in some decision making, and we’ve got to improve on that for sure, but overall I was happy with the effort that we put forth today coming off of a big win.”

The game opened in a back-and-forth race as both teams were sloppy with the ball. Coming off a loss against Harvard Friday, Boston College showed fight in the first quarter to keep the game close at 17-16 after the first 10 minutes.

Ohio State started to create separation in the second quarter. The Buckeyes forced 10 Boston College turnovers, largely because of their full-court press led by Sheldon, whose 11 steals tied a program record.

The All-Big Ten guard had nine of her 11 steals in the first half, which helped the Buckeyes close the second quarter up 42-25 after a 21-3 run in the final six minutes.

Ohio State put together its second-consecutive big third quarter. Mikulasikova led the way this time around, scoring 12 points in the period to help build the Ohio State lead to 64-45.

“She really helps us space the floor. There’s not a lot of big people, post players that can do that,” McGuff said. “It puts a lot of pressure on the opposing teams’ post player to try to find her at all times.”

Through two games, Mikulasikova is averaging 20 points and 9.5 rebounds per contest. The Slovakia native said she has more confidence in her ability after working hard on her mental health and conditioning in the offseason.

“I feel like I worked a lot on my mental state to be more confident to just trust myself,” Mikulasikova said. “For me, it was more mental than physical.” 

Through their first two games, the Buckeyes, led by Sheldon, have forced a combined 65 turnovers against Tennessee and Boston College, and her teammates are feeding off of her energy on the floor.

“I love playing with Jacy,” Mikulasikova said. “I don’t know how she does everything that she’s doing on the court, but she’s amazing.”

With two wins to open the season, Ohio State could leap into the top 10 when the next AP rankings are released. Its next game will be an in-state showdown against Ohio University Thursday at the Convocation Center at 7 p.m. and available on ESPN+.