Ohio State junior guard Chance Gray (21) dribbles the ball on the perimeter during the Buckeyes 82-57 defeat over Grand Valley State Saturday. Credit: Sandra Fu | Photo Editor
The best in Division II was no match for the Buckeyes in a wire-to-wire victory.
No. 11 Ohio State (11-0, 1-0 Big Ten) defeated the Grand Valley State Lakers (11-1, 2-0 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference) 82-57 thanks to 23 points by guard Chance Gray Tuesday afternoon at the Schottenstein Center.
Forward Cotie McMahon got the Buckeyes rolling in the first quarter, netting their first two baskets in the opening minute of play.
After a layup to answer by Lakers forward Rylie Bisballe, Ohio State took off on a 13-0 run led by two triples from Gray.
Ohio State led 33-10 at the end of the first quarter, as turnover issues proved detrimental for the Lakers. Grand Valley State had a whopping 12 giveaways, allowing the Buckeyes to score 13 points off turnovers in the period.
Head coach Kevin McGuff said he was impressed with his team’s strong first quarter, but noted that they didn’t execute as well in the following periods.
“We got off to a great start,” McGuff said. “We just didn’t sustain the things that allowed us to get up in the first quarter.”
Grand Valley State found its groove early in the second, forcing McMahon to shoot two airball 3-pointers during a 7-2 Lakers run that cut the lead to 18.
Both teams endured nearly three-minute scoring droughts before Buckeyes forward Eboni Walker dropped in a layup to end the cold streak.
In the final moment of the half, Buckeyes guard Ava Watson dropped in a rainbow 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to put Ohio State up 44-18 heading into the break.
Gray continued her success from distance to start the second half with a deep triple to open the third quarter. She finished the afternoon shooting 8-for-14 from the field and 5-for-7 from deep.
“That’s one of my roles on this team,” Gray said. “I think that’s one of the reasons [they] recruited me here — just to be a scorer, be a threat on offense.”
Following a McMahon layup to give the Buckeyes a 31-point lead, a 12-5 Grand Valley State run capped off by a 3-pointer from guard Avery Zeinstra cut the lead to 54-30.
Grand Valley State kept its foot on the pedal down the stretch of the third quarter, with a jumper by guard MacKenzie Bisballe shortening Ohio State’s lead to 21 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Buckeyes and Lakers found themselves in a back-and-forth affair early in the fourth quarter, and despite a final push by Grand Valley State, Ohio State was simply too far ahead, pulling away to win 82-57.
Despite the 25-point loss, the Lakers racked up 14 offensive boards, out-rebounding the Buckeyes 34-31 overall.
McMahon said she wasn’t happy with the Buckeyes’ effort, noting that her team should’ve had more of an advantage in both scoring and rebounding.
“Grand Valley is a good team, but they shouldn’t have scored that many points,” McMahon said. “They out-rebounded us. Just little things that we need to pick up on before Stanford.”
Ohio State will travel to San Francisco, California, to take on the Stanford Cardinal 8:30 p.m. at the Chase Center.
