The Ohio State women’s basketball team walks back to the bench during a timeout during the No.2 Ohio State-No.10 Iowa game Monday. Ohio State lost 83-72. Credit: Katie Good | Lantern File
After two games in the Bahamas, No. 15 Ohio State returned home and defeated Cornell 83-40 at Value City Arena Sunday afternoon.
Ohio State turned defensive into offense early as their steals led to fast-break opportunities and points on the other end of the floor.
Forcing 17 turnovers in the first half, the Buckeyes (5-1, 0-0 Big Ten) dominated Cornell from the start and never looked back, as the Big Red (2-4, 0-0 Ivy League) could not handle the defensive tenacity and constant pressure by Ohio State.
“We had some stretches where our press was very effective,” head coach Kevin McGuff said. “We executed and our pressure was good, and those turnovers resulted in a lot of points for us.”
The Buckeyes scored nine straight points to get out to a 13-4 lead just four minutes into the contest. Back-to-back Ohio State layups with 6:03 left in the first quarter forced an early Cornell timeout.
Graduate forward Rebeka Mikulasikova ended the first half with 10 points, going 5-of-7 from the field.
The Buckeyes played their best defensive quarter of the season in the second, holding Cornell to two points on 1-for-12 shooting.
Ohio State led 45-13 at halftime and shot an efficient 50 percent from the field.
Graduate guard Celeste Taylor said the team has the right pieces on defense and they know how to cohesively play together.
“Defense is beating people to the spot and being able to read and I think we have a lot of people who can be placed in different positions to be able to do that,” Taylor said. “It’s fun out there to fly around and you know everyone else is going to fly around with you.”
Cornell’s highest scoring quarter came in the third, but Ohio State continued scoring to put the game out of reach.
Sophomore forward Cotie McMahon missed one shot in the second half and finished with 14 points. Redshirt sophomore Emma Shumate added nine points and made three 3-pointers in the second half.
Cornell junior forward Summer Parker-Hall was the only double-digit scorer for the Big Red and led the team with 13 points and four rebounds.
McMahon said she was happy to see the different lineups today since they gave other players an opportunity to showcase their talents.
“Games like today are used to help us gel better together and help our chemistry and counting on each other,” McMahon said.
The Buckeyes will look to continue their six-game winning streak Sunday as they travel to Knoxville, Tennessee to take on the No. 19 ranked Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena.
The top 20 matchup will be televised on ESPN and is set to begin at 5 p.m.
