No. 2 Ohio State women win first outright Big Ten regular-season title since 2010
For the first time since 2010, Ohio State is the sole Big Ten regular-season champion.
In front of 10,895 fans Wednesday night at Value City Arena, the No. 2 Buckeyes secured the title with a 67-51 victory over the Michigan Wolverines.
"I'm just really proud of our group," Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. "They've worked extremely hard, and as I told them in the locker room, if you looked at where we were when we played our first Big Ten game to where we are today, we've made incredible progress."
Ohio State came into the game with a 14-game winning streak, a streak that started after its only conference loss of the season – on the road against Michigan back on Dec. 30. The Wolverines were trying to remain above .500 in the Big Ten with an 8-8 record.
Though the two teams have been on very different trajectories since their previous meeting, the Buckeyes' rival made it far from easy.
A tight battle throughout the first half, Ohio State would require a 27-point, third-quarter effort to put Michigan away. Jacy Sheldon led the team, with 10 of her 22 points coming in the third. Sophomore teammate Cotie McMahon recorded 18 overall points on the evening. The two proved to be difference-markers after being held to 12 combined points in Ann Arbor.
"I just knew we were playing for something big," McMahon said. "I kind of just wanted to be a big part in that. And then, just looking back, the season has been crazy for the team and me especially, going through that little slump and then finally finding my rhythm. So, I just wanted to leave it all out there for this team."
The Buckeyes demonstrated early that the plan was to impose their fast-paced style. They moved the ball and looked for a quick basket on virtually every one of their possessions in the first quarter. McMahon and Sheldon helped set that tempo by hitting back-to-back shots for Ohio State in the first minute of play.
In an attempt to keep Michigan from slowing things down, the Buckeyes stayed in a press defense, which allowed them to hold the Wolverines to 9 points in the first quarter. OSU also forced seven turnovers.
"We played really hard,"McGuff said. "Jacy, Cotie, Celeste (Taylor), the intensity that they were playing with was at a significantly higher level than the first time we played Michigan."
Where Ohio State was really beaten in the first quarter was on boards. Michigan grabbed 11 rebounds, seven off the offensive glass, compared to the Buckeyes' six overall.
After being held scoreless for nearly the last three minutes of the quarter, Ohio State held a slight 13-9 lead.
In the second quarter, both teams were unable to put points on the board in the first two minutes. Ohio State's Rebeka Mikulasikova broke the ice by sinking her first basket of the game with a 3-pointer. That would be one of just four field goals the Buckeyes would score in the quarter.
During that dry spell, the Wolverines would go on a 10-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 22-20, with 0:50 left in the half.
"We like playing at our pace," Sheldon said. "Michigan plays a little slower. We played at their pace the first half. Second half, I think we were able to speed the game up a little bit, make them a little uncomfortable."
McMahon, whose 8 points and two rebounds in the first half already marked an improvement from her overall performance the last time Ohio State played Michigan, hit a jumper with 15 seconds left to send the game to halftime tied 22-22.
Building off their third-quarter performance, when the Buckeyes gave themselves the 49-38 lead, the home team continued to feed off the crowd. After shooting 38.5% from the field in the first half, Ohio State improved their shooting to 51.7% in the second.
"I think we didn't make a lot of strides in the first half and shots we normally make," Sheldon said. "So, we knew they were eventually going to fall but got our defense going and then our defense led to offense."
With just one more game remaining in the regular season, Sunday's road tipoff against the Iowa Hawkeyes, the Buckeyes already know their final place in the conference standings. This is Ohio State's 16th Big Ten regular-season title in program history.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: No. 2 Ohio State defeats Michigan, wins Big Ten regular-season title
