The Ohio State women’s basketball team takes a timeout during the No.13 Ohio State-Minnesota game Wednesday. Ohio State won 93-63. Credit: Katie Good | Asst. Photo Editor
A game of runs ensued late Wednesday night in College Park, Maryland.
Ultimately, the Buckeyes got the last one thanks to a balanced scoring attack from their starters that helped them pull away from the Terrapins in the fourth quarter.
No. 18 Ohio State (14-3, 5-1 Big Ten) knocked off Maryland (11-6, 3-3 Big Ten) 84-76 Wednesday night at the XFINITY Center behind all five starters scoring in double-figures.
Graduate forward Rebeka Mikulasikova finished with a team-high 20 points with three triples. Mikulasikova said she felt the team was making great passes, which set up good scoring opportunities for her.
“I just tried to play inside and outside as well,” Mikulasikova said. “I found good confidence inside and then I was able to shoot some threes as well.”
The Buckeyes got the scoring going with a three from Mikulasikova at the 8:40 mark that was set up by a block from junior guard/forward Taylor Thierry.
Maryland answered with an and-1 layup from sophomore guard Bri McDaniel a minute later, leading to a 7-0 run for Maryland.
The Buckeyes did not take back the lead until a fast-break layup from graduate guard Celeste Taylor put the Buckeyes up 16-15 with 38 seconds in the quarter.
The Terrapins quickly responded with a corner jumper from McDaniel, giving them a 17-16 lead after one quarter.
McDaniel had a strong first half, scoring 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting. After more back-and-forth scoring in the second quarter, Maryland held onto a 39-37 halftime lead.
Despite being down, the Buckeyes remained level-headed, and Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said tough conference games are going to test the Buckeyes now but put them in a better position in the later stage of the season.
“The Big Ten is so tough, we’re gonna have a lot of close games,” McGuff said. “I think this is helping us in terms of our concentration, focus and execution down the stretch.”
Mikulaskikova’s third three of the game came at a critical time for the Buckeyes, giving them a 55-52 lead with 1:52 left in the third quarter.
The Buckeyes would lead for the remainder of the game.
Ohio State found some wiggle room late after several consecutive layups that pushed its lead up to nine, 66-57, with 6:21 left.
The lead eventually extended to double digits thanks to a breakaway layup from graduate guard Jacy Sheldon with 1:55 left in the game that put the Buckeyes up 77-67, which sealed the game for Ohio State.
McGuff said he was anticipating a tough game on the road for the Buckeyes.
“We knew this would be a really difficult game and we would have to play extremely well to win,” McGuff said. “We have great respect for what they have accomplished here so we were as up for this as we needed to be.”
The Buckeyes face No. 2 Iowa Sunday at Value City Arena at noon on NBC.
