No.12 Ohio State women's basketball defeats No. 25 Penn State in overtime battle
The Ohio State women's basketball team started its Big Ten schedule with a challenge.
The No. 12 Buckeyes faced No. 25 Penn State, on Sunday at Value City Arena and pulled out the 94-84 win in overtime.
"The Big Ten is one of the best conferences, if not the best out there," Ohio State's Jacy Sheldon said. "If you don't come out ready for any game, you're going to get beat. This is a ridiculous conference with a lot of good teams and a lot of good players."
In a game in which the Buckeyes had to come back from being down as many as 13 points, it was 26 points off free throws compared to Penn State's 11 that was the difference. Leading the way for Ohio State were Jacy Sheldon with 31 points, Cotie McMahon with 27 and Celeste Taylor with 13, many coming in key moments.
After missing a couple of attempts to get on the board, Taylor was able to capitalize on an offensive rebound to give the Buckeyes their first points of the game.
Going into the first media timeout tied at 7-7, the Buckeyes' offense found a spark, with McMahon leading a quick 6-0 run. Penn State also started to get some buckets and in the final two minutes of the quarter the two squads put up a combined 16 points to end the first tied 26-26.
The biggest issue throughout the game was foul trouble, and it started the moment the game tipped off.
Both teams were in the bonus before reaching the halfway point of the first quarter, with three of OSU's five fouls coming on offense. By the end of the quarter, the Buckeyes had committed eight fouls compared to their opponent's nine.
"It wasn't what we expected, but it happened," McMahon said. "Our whole starting lineup had fouls, and there was nothing we could do but move past it and play our game."
Entering the second quarter tied again, the Nittany Lions came out strong, forcing the Buckeyes to call a timeout less than four minutes into the quarter after putting together a 12-point lead.
Penn State was finding many opportunities with 10 fast-break points. The Nittany Lions' lead continued to grow in the second quarter, as they were outplaying Ohio State.
The only players who seemed to find open opportunities for the Buckeyes were Sheldon and Taylor. The two combined for 10 of Ohio State's 14 second-quarter points, which kept the Buckeyes' deficit at 10 points going into the half.
The game continued to be aggressive in the second half, and fouls continued to be handed out at a high rate, mostly to Penn State, which drew 33 whistles before the game was over.
With frequent trips to the foul line, the Buckeyes had a chance to build a comeback with the clock stopped.
"They're called free for a reason," Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. "It's typically way more mental than it is physical ... so we got to lock in and focus and make sure we can make people pay."
In the third quarter, the Buckeyes took 15 free throws, recording 8 points from the charity stripe. McMahon missed her first three attempts from the line in the quarter, a struggle that would follow her the whole game, going 5-14 from the foul line.
The sophomore finally hit her first two free throws with just under three minutes left in the third, and it started an 8-0 run from the Buckeyes that would put them back within two points of the Nittany Lions.
Despite McMahon's 8-point effort in the third, the Buckeyes were still down 68-59 going into the final quarter. The Nittany Lions were led by Makenna Marisa and Shay Ciezki, as they finished with 28 and 19 points, respectively.
McMahon's offensive spark carried over into the fourth quarter, and the Buckeyes took the lead when Rebeka Mikulasikova hit a 3 to put them up 69-68 with 6:21 remaining.
The teams exchanged leads six times in the fourth quarter. With two minutes left to play, McGuff called a timeout after the Nittany Lions took a 76-75 lead thanks to a Marisa three-point play.
Coming out of the timeout, McMahon hit two more free throws to put the Buckeyes back on top. Ohio State was able to stop Penn State from scoring with their possession following the lead change.
That is when Taylor hit a big 3 that looked like it could put the game away, but Penn State was able to stay alive, putting up four points, one off an Ohio State turnover, to tie the game at 80-80 and force overtime.
The overtime period was all Buckeyes as McMahon and Sheldon recorded all 14 of the team's points in extra time. On the opposite end, Ohio State's defense held Penn State to only four points in overtime.
The Buckeyes next host Grand Valley State on Friday before welcoming in the No. 2 ranked UCLA Bruins the following Monday night.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State women's basketball has tight battle against Penn State
