Ohio State freshman guard Jaloni Cambridge (22) looks for a pass during the game against Washington. The Buckeyes defeated the Huskies 66-56. Credit: Heidi Chang | Lantern Photographer
An early lead from the Huskies never fazed the Buckeyes.
After trailing for the entire first quarter, No. 8 Ohio State (20-1, 9-1 Big Ten) overcame its early struggles to defeat Washington (13-9, 4-6 Big Ten) 66-56 Sunday at the Schottenstein Center as the Buckeyes held the Huskies to their lowest scoring output of the season.
For over a quarter and a half, the fans in the Schottenstein Center were left silent.
Washington jumped out to a 7-0 lead, which forced Buckeyes head coach Kevin McGuff to burn a quick timeout.
But Ohio State managed to fight back and only trailed by one at the end of the quarter. It marked the third consecutive game that the Buckeyes were behind after the first period.
McGuff praised his team’s ability to guard Washington’s top scorers in the half-court, which kept the Buckeyes in the game, after the beginning stages of the first.
“We turned them over quite a bit and were able to convert and turn those turnovers into points,” McGuff said. “We did not start out the beginning of the game with good defense. Once we kind of settled down a bit, I thought our half-court defense was very good.”
A putback layup from forward Taylor Thierry gave the Buckeyes their first lead with 8:43 to go in the second quarter, putting Ohio State up 20-19.
A 3-pointer by guard Ava Watson with 3:34 remaining in the second period. After that, Ohio State never trailed again.
With the final seconds ticking down before the half, Buckeyes guard Jaloni Cambridge hit a buzzer-beating jump shot to cap off a 14-2 run and sent Ohio State into the break up 36-26.
Out of the half, Washington came out firing and hit its first three shots while it cut Ohio State’s once double-digit lead to four, draining the energy in the Schottenstein Center.
The Huskies had the Buckeyes on the ropes in the opening moments of the final frame after a 3-pointer from Huskies guard Sayvia Sellers which cut Ohio State’s lead to just two.
However, a 10-3 run, fueled by Cambridge scores on back-to-back possessions and a Gray 3-pointer gave the Buckeyes an eight-point lead, allowing them to coast in the final moments to claim a 66-56 victory.
The Buckeyes sped up the Huskies after the first quarter as they forced 21 of 25 turnovers in the last three quarters, many of which came from full-court press defense.
Forward Cotie McMahon said their aggressive defense and press “22” — the team’s name fo their full-court pressure — is part of the team’s identity.
“I think we’re at the point where everybody has trusted ‘22’ and has really put their efforts in. McMahon said. “I feel like 22 can win us games, our defense can win us games.”
Ohio State will head out west to take on the top-ranked No. 1 UCLA Bruins Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Peacock.
