Ohio State freshman forward Cotie McMahon (32) shoots a layup during the No. 13 Ohio State-No. 2 Indiana game Monday. Ohio State lost 83-59. Credit: Christian Harsa | Managing Editor for Digital Content
Freshman guard Cotie McMahon continued her impressive stretch to her first year at Ohio State — this time notching the first double-double of her career.
The No. 13 Buckeyes (22-5, 11-5 Big Ten) gained the upper hand behind a 12-point run early in the first quarter and never looked back, picking up their third win in the past five games in a 67-55 victory Thursday at Penn State.
This season the Buckeyes’ slow starts has led to difficulty in pulling out close wins, but they shifted gears against Penn State (13-13, 4-11 Big Ten), as they shot over 55 percent from the field in the first quarter.
McMahon finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, a new career-best mark by one board. Redshirt junior guard Rikki Harris followed with a near triple-double, putting up 15 points on 4-of-9 shooting from 3, while adding in eight rebounds and seven assists.
Penn State’s top scorer, senior guard Makenna Marisa, scored a game-high 22 points after struggling against the Buckeyes in the first half, going 1-of-5 from the field. Marisa was one of two Penn State players to reach double figures, joining redshirt sophomore guard Leilani Kapinus who scored 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting.
The Buckeyes did damage on both sides of the ball in the first half. McMahon was the first Buckeye to reach double figures with 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field.
After getting outrebounded 35-23 against Indiana, the Buckeyes crashed the boards and tied with Penn State at 19 apiece to end the half. Ohio State also had five blocks and scored 15 points after forcing 11 Penn State turnovers after the first two quarters.
With 1:39 remaining Harris bounced a pass to sophomore guard Taylor Thierry, who finished with a tough layup over Marisa with the shot clock winding down. This was one of Ohio State’s 13 assists to finish the half, topping the Buckeyes’ mark in two of the past three full games.
Harris contributed six of those assists in the first half, which was more than Penn State’s combined total of four in that span.
Penn State shot 33 percent from the field and went 9-of-27 to end the opening half. The Nittany Lions went scoreless in the last 2:46 seconds of the second quarter and committed four turnovers during a four-minute stretch.
The Buckeyes led 38-26 to end the half.
During the third frame, Ohio State went cold as it shot 31 percent from the field after shooting 51.6 in the first two quarters, while the Nittany Lions’ struggles continued from the field as they posted a 11.6 percent clip.
Penn State went 0-of-6 for nearly a six-minute stretch, until graduate forward Alexa Williamson made a free throw with 5:41 left. Despite the Buckeyes low shooting percentage, they were able to extend the lead to 20 entering the fourth quarter — while holding the Nittany Lions to five points in the third.
Marisa, who scored 18 points in the final frame, and Penn State didn’t quit and cut the lead to as narrow as 11 points with less than a minute remaining. During this late fourth quarter run, senior forward Eboni Walker limped to the sideline grimacing after sustaining an apparent lower leg injury.
Walker, who ended the night with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting, played a key role in the Buckeyes’ rotation this season after filling in for senior forward Rebeka Mikulasikova, who sustained a high ankle sprain Feb. 8 against Minnesota.
Injuries have played a crucial role for the Buckeyes this season. With senior guard Jacy Sheldon nursing a foot injury and redshirt junior guard Madison Greene suffering a season-ending knee injury, the status of Walker is concerning with the Buckeyes looking to finish the season off strong in their final two games of the regular season.
Ohio State travels to face No. 12 Michigan in a rematch at the Crisler Center Monday night for its final road game of the season.
Tipoff is set to begin at 7 p.m. on FS1.
