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Tayler Hill scored 18 of her 21 points in the second half to lead Ohio State over Illinois.
Coming off one of their best team games of the year in Monday’s win over Michigan State, the Ohio State women’s basketball team looked to build some momentum with tonight’s game at Illinois. This was the last road game of the year for the Buckeyes, which must come as a relief to a team that has really struggled on the road over the past two seasons. Those road struggles also meant that this game was really important for OSU, not only as it would tell us if the good performance against Sparty was indicative of things to come or was just a mere blip but also because a road win would greatly help the Buckeyes’ case to sneak into the NCAA tournament.
The game started out as a back and forth affair which resulted in the game being tied at 9 seven minutes into the game. The importance of this game for the postseason hopes of both teams was apparently early as both teams played energetic defense but also had moments of sloppy play on offense which led to turnovers. After a good shooting start by Ohio State, their shooting went cold and Illinois took advantage to go on a 7 to 2 run to take a 16-11 lead with eight minutes remaining in the half. The Buckeyes responded though, scoring six straight to take a 17-16 lead just over six minutes on the clock. The lead bounced back and forth for a couple minutes before OSU went on an 8 to 2 run to take a 27-22 lead with two and a half minutes remaining. The two teams would trade baskets the rest of the way and when the buzzer sounded for halftime Ohio State had a 31-26 lead.
Tayler Hill’s game high 26 points and 6 steals led the Buckeyes to victory at Northwestern.
Ohio State traveled to Northwestern riding their first Big Ten winning streak of the season after beating Indiana and Wisconsin. The Buckeyes made a change to the starting lineup for this one as Amber Stokes returned to the lineup, replacing Maleeka Kynard. Stokes had missed several games back in January due to an injury and then had come off the bench to great effect in the past few games.
Ohio State opened the game cold and Northwestern took advantage to score the game first six points. OSU responded though by attacking the paint and went on a 9 to 1 run to take a 9-7 lead with thirteen and a half minutes remaining in the half. Four straight points by the Wildcats gave them back the lead and the two teams began to trade baskets for the next six minutes with neither team able to build more than a three point lead. Northwestern led 19-18 with six minutes to go in the half when Ohio State went on a run, scoring 13 straight to take a 31-19 lead with two minutes left on the clock. The run was made in part by a series of fouls by the Wildcats which sent the Buckeyes to the line and several Northwestern starters to the bench with foul trouble, forcing the Wildcats to go to their rather thin bench. The Wildcats weren’t done though, closing the half on a 7 to 2 run to cut the OSU lead to 33-26 as the two teams headed to the locker rooms.
Wisconsin’s Morgan Paige gave Ohio State nightmares in their loss to the Badgers.
After getting their first Big Ten win of the year against Indiana, the Ohio State women’s basketball team knew that they couldn’t relax heading into today’s game against Wisconsin. Even though the Badgers came into this game as one of the two teams in the Big Ten that still didn’t have a conference win, the game would be in Madison and road wins are always tough to come by in the conference and the Buckeyes had a big hole still to dig out of after losing their first four conference games.
Ohio State got off to a good start, scoring the first seven points of the game on the way to taking an early 10-2 lead. Wisconsin quickly responded though, scoring 9 straight points, helped in part by a pair of costly Buckeye fouls, to take an 11-10 lead about eight minutes into the game. After exchanging a few baskets with the Badgers, the Buckeyes took advantage of three pointers by Cait Craft and Raven Ferguson to score 10 unanswered and retake a 23-14 lead with six minutes left in the half. Wisconsin wasn’t impressed though, putting together a 7 to 2 run to cut the lead to 25-21. OSU would quickly extend the lead to eight but the Badgers took advantage of two Buckeye fouls in the closing minute to cut the OSU lead to 29-25 as the half ended.
Tayler Hill looked good in returning to action after an illness, leading OSU to their first Big Ten win of the year.
Its only mid-January but for the Ohio State women’s basketball team tonight’s game against Indiana was a must win. An 0-4 start to Big Ten play, the worst in the history of the program, had led to OSU being dropped from the national rankings and had essentially destroyed any realistic hopes of winning a Big Ten title. Starting with tonight’s game the Buckeyes were battling for a first day bye in the Big Ten tournament and an NCAA tournament berth. OSU got a boost heading into this game as Tayler Hill and Maleeka Kynard both returned to action after sitting out last game due to illness.
Ohio State did not get off to a good start as they missed their first six shots from the field, taking more than three and a half minutes to hit their first field goal. Fortunately Indiana wasn’t really shooting any better and at the first television timeout the game was tied at 2 points for each team. The Hoosiers scored the first four points out of that tv timeout but then the Buckeyes responded with a 10 to 2 run to take a 12-8 lead with eleven minutes remaining in the half. Indiana quickly retook the lead with a 9 to 2 run of their own before OSU countered with six straight points to go ahead 20-17 with five minutes on the clock. The two teams would essentially trade baskets for the rest of the half with the Buckeyes managing to extend their lead to 30-24 as the teams headed to the locker rooms.
Cait Craft got her first career start at Ohio State but that wasn't enough to lift the team past Purdue.
Ohio State entered tonight’s game looking to break their three game losing streak and avoid getting off to their worst ever start in Big Ten play. That task wasn’t an easy one as the Buckeyes would be playing at #12 Purdue without starting guard, and best defensive player on the team, Amber Stokes. OSU’s job got even harder when before the game it was revealed that star guard Tayler Hill and sophomore guard Maleeka Kynard would also miss the game due to illness. The missing players forced a different starting lineup, with Ashley Adams, Darryce Moore, Ameryst Alston, Raven Ferguson, and Cait Craft getting the starting nod; this was the first career start for Craft.
After scoring the first basket of the game, the Ohio State offense struggled and the Buckeyes found themselves in a 14-5 hole eight minutes into the game. The next four minutes would see the two teams trade baskets before OSU scored seven straight to pull within one point, 19-18, with six and a half minutes remaining in the half. The Boilermakers answered right back though, scoring nine unanswered to extend their lead to 10. Ohio State chipped away a bit of that lead in the final two minutes but went into halftime trailing 30-24.
Ameryst Alston scored a career-high 15 points but that wasn't enough to lift Ohio State to victory.
Sorry for this recap being late, have been at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Long Beach this week and due to various conference obligations I didn’t get a chance to cover the game earlier.
After starting Big Ten season with two losses, the Ohio State women’s basketball team headed to Minnesota looking for a much needed win. Making matters more difficult for the Buckeyes was the loss of senior guard Amber Stokes to a sprained knee against Illinois; Stokes is expected to be out four weeks but should return in time for the end of conference play. With Stokes out, Raven Ferguson got the starting nod; Darryce Moore also returned to the starting lineup, replacing Aleksandra Dobranic.
The two teams traded baskets for the first four minutes of the game but then Minnesota used a 10 to 2 run to open up a 19-9 lead just over seven minutes into the game. A minute later Tayler Hill decided she had enough of the double digit deficit, scoring seven points in a minute and a half to key a 9 to 2 OSU run that cut the Golden Gopher lead to 23-20 just past the midpoint of the half. Minnesota quickly stretched that lead back to 8 points and then continued to take advantage of Buckeye turnovers, and an OSU defense that was a step slow, to extend their lead through the remainder of the half. When the horn finally sounded for halftime, the Buckeyes found themselves facing a giant 50-31 deficit.
Tayler Hill scored 30 points but that wasn't enough as Ohio State fell to Illinois.
After a heart breaking overtime loss at Iowa on Thursday, the Ohio State women’s basketball team looked to get back on the winning track as they hosted Illinois. Despite coming in with a 7-6 record, the Illini were a dangerous team which had handed a top 10 Georgia team a double digit loss less than two weeks ago.
The game started off as a back and forth affair and Illinois led 11-10 through six minutes of action. A quick 9 to 2 run by the Illini stretched that lead to 20-12 in a span of about two minutes and had Ohio State fans very uneasy. Buckeye forward Darryce Moore wasn’t feeling uneasy though and hit a pair of back-to-back baskets to fire up the team and OSU scored sixteen straight to take a 28-20 lead with four minutes remaining in the half. After a timeout, Illinois nailed a three pointer to cut the lead to five and the two teams traded baskets the rest of the half with OSU heading into the locker room up 35-31.
Illinois hit the first two baskets of the second half to tie the game but Ohio State responded with five points to retake the lead. The Illini responded and tied the game at 41 with fifteen minutes left on the clock. Illinois briefly took a lead but OSU responded with 8 unanswered to take a 49-43 lead. The two teams would trade baskets for the next several minutes with Illinois getting as close as two points before Ohio State pushed the margin back to a more comfortable 5, 59-54, with just under six minutes remaining. A 7-0 run gave Illinois a 61-59 lead and sparked an exciting final four minutes of action. Twice Tayler Hill knocked down a pair of free throws only to see Illinois retake the lead and with two minutes remaining on the clock, OSU trailed 68-67. At this point things went horribly wrong as Darryce Moore reacted badly to being called for a four, earning a technical foul and sending Illinois to the line for a total of four shots. The Illini hit three of the shots to take a four point lead which would extend to six on their next possession. A Tayler Hill three pointer made the game 73-70 with just over a minute to play and OSU looked to have a chance. However, the Buckeye defense couldn’t get a rebound after a missed Illini shot and Illinois used their second chance to make it a five point game and force OSU to foul. The Ilini knocked down their shots down the stretch to hand Ohio State a 79-73 defeat. Read More
Tayler Hill led Ohio State with 22 points as the Buckeyes concluded non-conference play with a win over Howard.
The Ohio State women’s basketball team closed out 2012 and the non-conference portion of their schedule by hosting Howard today. Coming off of a dominating performance earlier in the week, the Buckeyes looked to continue their momentum heading into Big Ten play where the schedule will get tougher.
Ohio State opened the game hot from the floor and quickly jumped to a 17-5 lead in the opening nine minutes. Howard finally got their offense going at this point but their defense still couldn’t slow down the Buckeyes and the two teams traded baskets the rest of the half; OSU went into intermission leading 33-21. The Buckeyes built their lead thanks to shooting a scoring 63% from the field but 11 turnovers kept the Bison in the game.
Howard opened the second half with a pair of baskets to trim the Ohio State lead to single digits, 33-25. The two teams traded baskets for the next few minutes and the Buckeyes led 40-32 with fourteen minutes left in the game when OSU scored 8 unanswered to extend their lead to a more comfortable 48-32 with just over ten minutes remaining on the clock. The two teams would trade baskets the rest of the way, with the Bison getting no closer than 13 points down as the Buckeyes came away with a solid, if closer than desired, 67-50 win.
