Junior forward Cotie McMahon (32) dribbles the ball down the court during No. 8 Ohio State’s game against Iowa at the Schottenstein Center. The Buckeyes defeated the Hawkeyes 86-78 in overtime on Monday. Credit: Heidi Chang | Lantern Photographer
Up 12 with less than two minutes to go, it looked as if the Buckeyes were on their way to a comfortable conference win over Iowa.
3-pointer.
3-pointer.
3-pointer.
3-pointer.
All of a sudden, the Hawkeyes were only down by two after a combination of lackluster defense and missed free throws.
Iowa had the ball with 14 seconds; Hawkeyes leading scorer Lucy Olsen was fouled, made two free throws and tied the game at 74.
It was the second late-game collapse the Buckeyes had surrendered.
But the extra five minutes of overtime was all Ohio State as the No. 8 Buckeyes (22-3, 11-3 Big Ten) escaped and edged out Iowa (18-8, 8-7 Big Ten) 86-78 Monday afternoon at Value City Arena.
Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff described the team’s disappointing fourth-quarter finish as something that will need to be cleaned up for the team to reach their potential.
“We have such great stretches and such great highs,” McGuff said. “But we don’t sustain that for long enough to put teams away and kind of be who we’re capable of being.”
Guard Jaloni Cambridge poured in 29 points and her sister, Kennedy Cambridge, scored a season-high 16 points to help snap Iowa’s six-game win streak.
McGuff praised Kennedy Cambridge’s play, describing how valuable she was for the Buckeyes.
“I don’t think we would’ve won without the minutes we got from Kennedy off the bench,” McGuff said.
Ohio State’s leading scorers — guard Jaloni Cambridge and forward Cotie McMahon — each started strong as they hit jump shots on the first two possessions of the game.
Midway through the first quarter, the Buckeyes capitalized on four straight Hawkeye misses, cementing a 7-0 run and establishing a 14-6 lead.
Cambridge’s electric speed in transition caused early problems for Iowa. The freshman guard scored nine of her 29 points in the first quarter and pushed the ball down the court frequently, creating open looks for her teammates.
The Buckeyes tied their most first-quarter points since Jan. 16 against Wisconsin with 22.
Ohio State went cold late in the second quarter and was held from making a field goal for over four minutes. That was before Kennedy Cambridge made an acrobatic layup with just over a minute before halftime, giving the Buckeyes a 34-21 lead at the break. The Cambridge sisters alone outscored the Hawkeyes 22-21, through the first twenty minutes.
Ohio State’s defense stifled Iowa in the first 20 minutes, holding the Hawkeyes to their lowest-scoring first half of the season and preventing them from making a field goal for the final 5:33 of the half. Forward Taylor Thierry accounted for four steals.
Iowa exploded to start the second half, jumping out to a 8-3 run through the first 3:03 of the third quarter. The Hawkeyes’ run cut the Buckeyes lead to single digits and forced a timeout by Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff.
Out of the timeout, Jaloni Cambridge hit a 3-pointer, extending the Buckeyes lead to 40-29. But Iowa responded, scoring seven straight, cutting their deficit to just four, the closest the game had been since 5:37 remaining in the first quarter.
The Cambridge sisters responded for the slumping Buckeyes, going on a 6-1 run themselves, expanding their lead to 46-37. With time winding down in the period, Iowa forward Addison O’Grady made a layup and the Buckeyes led 51-44 after three quarters.
The Hawkeyes started the final quarter strong, cutting the Buckeye lead to two. .
McMahon responded with four in a row, off an acrobatic layup, then a steal and a fastbreak score.
Leading 57-54, Ohio State went on a 12-3 run over the next four minutes to push their lead to double-digits with 1:38 to go, seemingly giving the victory for the Buckeyes.
But, the Hawkeyes took advantage of Ohio State five missed free throws and a Kennedy Cambridge turnover in the final 1:30, while Iowa caught fire from beyond the arc with four 3-pointers to force overtime.
McMahon said she felt the Buckeyes’ careless mistakes caused the fourth quarter collapse. “Just a lack of mental focus,” McMahon said. “We were doing everything right up until then. We just have to stay locked in the full forty minutes.”
In overtime, Ohio State outlasted Iowa, as Jaloni Cambridge and McMahon combined for 10 points in overtime to seal the 86-78 win.
McMahon said in crunch time, she trusts herself and Jaloni Cambridge to step up.
“A lot of eyes are on us when it comes to those moments,” McMahon said. “It’s up to us, whether we do what we know we can do, or fold in that pressure.”
The No. 8 Buckeyes head to Bloomington to take on Indiana on Thursday at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Peacock.
