No. 18 Ohio State women rely on forwards to top Maryland 84-76
With one the biggest game of the season for the Ohio State women's basketball team just days away, it seemed like the Buckeyes' matchup against Maryland on Wednesday could be a trap game.
Coming off a close battle with Michigan State and preparing for Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday, Ohio State faced a test against the unranked Terrapins. It took the performances of Taylor Thierry, Rebeka Mikulasikova and Cotie McMahon for the Buckeyes to finish the road game unscathed, winning 84-76.
Mikulasikova led the scoring for the Buckeyes with 20 points, while Thierry contributed 17 points and McMahon 14.
Failing to finish on three different opportunities on the opening possession alone, the Buckeyes struggled early, as they had against Michigan State. Maryland went on a seven-point run to take a 7-3 lead halfway through the first quarter.
"We didn't have our best shooting night," Buckeyes' coach Kevin McGuff said. "When you're not shooting the ball real well, then the way to kind of overcome that is to get second chance opportunities."
The Buckeyes were down 17-16 by the end of the first, and that deficit would have been worse without the late effort from Celeste Taylor, whose defense in the final minute and a half led to all 5 of her points in the quarter. Taylor finished with 11 points and eight of Ohio State's 42 rebounds.
The Buckeyes, who are tied for first in the Big Ten in average turnover margin, were matched evenly with Maryland when it came to ball control. Both committed 11 turnovers in the first half, but the Buckeyes were able to score 13 points off turnovers compared the Terrapins' 11.
In the second quarter, the Buckeyes began relying heavily on Thierry, McMahon and Mikulasikova to find opportunities in the paint. The three accounted for 13 of the team's 21 second-quarter points, which was needed on a night when Ohio State went 2 for 16 from behind the 3-point line in the first half.
"We're a team that's capable of scoring really anywhere on the floor," McMahon said. "Us being off on the 3-point line, it didn't really hurt us. It just made us kind of step up in certain areas."
Maryland committed six second-quarter fouls and gave Ohio State eight trips to the free throw line, on which the Buckeyes cashed in for seven points. Even with those extra points, the Buckeyes were still down 39-37 at halftime.
The Ohio State forwards who were the difference makers for the team in the first half came out of halftime with that same energy.
But just as the Buckeyes' key players were keeping them alive in the matchup, Maryland's Jakia Brown-Turner, Lavender Briggs and Bri McDaniel were leading the Terps' charge. All three had reached double-digit scoring for the Terrapins midway through the third quarter.
Thierry and Mikulasikova took over the game in what became a back-and-forth third quarter, scoring all of the Buckeyes' field goals and propelling OSU to a 56-55 lead.
The 6-foot-4 Mikulasikova proved to be the only Buckeye who would have consistent success from 3-point territory, going 2 for 3 from beyond the arc in the third quarter.
"I think even last game against Michigan State and this game, I tried to just play more inside," Mikulasikova said. "That helps me to gain confidence to step outside and hit the 3s."
With Ohio State carrying a slight advantage going into the final 10 minutes, it was McMahon's turn to get things going for the Buckeyes, opening the quarter with a layup. Her 7 points and five rebounds helped Ohio State pull away.
"I didn't want to lose this game because of lack of rebounding on the boards or just lack of hustle," McMahon said. "We honestly felt like, 'this is our time to just put it away.' We're a good fourth-quarter team. We hustled throughout the whole game, so we just felt like this was the time to lock in."
Ohio State's leading scorer, Jacy Sheldon, was quiet through the first three quarters but finished with 10 points and five assists.
There is now nothing standing in the way of Ohio State and its first meeting of the season against No. 2 Iowa. The matchup will take place at Value City Arena at noon Sunday and will be televised by NBC.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: No. 18 Ohio State women top Maryland, turn focus to No. 2 Iowa
