No. 2 Indiana routs Ohio State 83-59 in women’s basketball

On Feb 14, 2023

It wasn’t just one bad quarter this time for the Ohio State women’s basketball team against Indiana.

When the teams played in Bloomington on Jan. 26, the Buckeyes more than held their own except for a disastrous third quarter in which they were outscored by 21 points in a 78-65 loss.

Monday night at Value City Arena, the Hoosiers left no doubt about their superiority. No. 2 Indiana shot 72.4% in the first half to take a 25-point lead in an 83-59 victory over the No. 13 Buckeyes.

Feb 13, 2023; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes guard Taylor Mikesell (24) reacts to a travelling violation by Indiana Hoosiers guard Grace Berger (34) during the first half of the NCAA women’s basketball game at Value City Arena. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus Dispatch

“Give Indiana credit,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. “They were just better than us tonight from start to finish. They especially started really well, and we got a little bit rattled with the start that we had.”

The Buckeyes (21-5, 10-5) did show some grit by having a much better third quarter than they did three weeks ago against IU.

Ohio State forward Cotie McMahon (32) reaches for a rebound between Indiana's Yarden Garzon (12) and Sydney Parrish and Ohio State's Taylor Thierry.

A 15-2 run cut Indiana’s lead to 10 late in the period before the Hoosiers stretched it back to 15 entering the fourth quarter.

The blowout shouldn’t have been that shocking. Indiana (24-1, 14-1) is on a roll. The Hoosiers’ lone loss came Dec. 29 against Michigan State.

Last week, they beat Iowa and its star Caitlin Clark.

For Ohio State, which has lost five of seven after a 19-0 start, the mounting injuries appear to have reached a critical mass. The Buckeyes will be without guard Madison Greene the rest of the year. Jacy Sheldon, who returned against Maryland from her foot injury, didn’t play for a second straight game. Forward Rebeka Mikulasikova also didn’t play after spraining an ankle against Minnesota last week.

“It is tough,” McGuff said, “but as I told them, no one’s going to feel sorry for us, so we better toughen up and find ways to win.”

Without Mikulasikova to guard Indiana’s star post player Mackenzie Holmes, the Buckeyes had no answers defensively in the first half. Eboni Walker tried gamely to contain Holmes, who had 33 points on 15-of-18 shooting. But when the Buckeyes tried to provide help, the Hoosiers’ ball movement and hot shooting allowed them to build a big lead.

Indiana made six of its first eight 3-point attempts. Sara Scalia (22 points) was 5 of 6 from that distance in the first half, including one late in the first quarter when the Buckeyes briefly tried using a zone. Add in Grace Berger’s mid-range game, and the Hoosiers put on a clinic in the first half.

Ohio State’s cold shooting didn’t help. The Buckeyes missed their first six 3-pointers. Indiana stretched its lead to 41-14 before Taylor Mikesell finally made the first OSU 3-pointer.

Cotie McMahon did her best to keep the score from getting completely out of hand. Despite being under the weather, the freshman scored 12 points in the first half and 22 total, mostly on drives.

“At the end of the day, I’m not playing for myself,” McMahon said, “so no matter how bad I feel, if I’m still alive, able to walk, breathe, talk, then I can play.”

The Buckeyes trailed 54-29 at halftime, and the second half looked to be a formality. But Ohio State made it interesting for a time. Its 15-2 run capped by a 3-pointer by McMahon and a basket by Walker cut Indiana’s lead to 60-50 with 2 minutes left in the third quarter.

“We were playing together, really moving the ball, attacking, and continuing to do what I do and what we do as a team,” McMahon said.

But IU scored eight of the next nine points, and its lead didn’t dip below 15 the rest of the way.

“We played hard and competed and played the right way in the third quarter,” McGuff said. “But we just put ourselves into too big of a hole, obviously, and then we kind of had a letdown,and they continued to play well in the fourth.”