Ohio State stuns UConn in Sweet 16 to advance to NCAA women’s tournament Elite

On Mar 25, 2023

March 25, 2023; Seattle, WA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Cotie McMahon (32) reacts after making a basket during the first half of an NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen game against the UConn Huskies at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle on Saturday. Ohio State led UConn 36-26 at the half.
Mandatory Credit: Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch

SEATTLE — In 1993, the Ohio State women’s basketball team made its first and only trip to the Final Four. In every NCAA Tournament since then — all 29 of them — Connecticut has made it at least to the Sweet 16, has won 11 national championships and has made 14 straight Final Fours, while the Buckeyes haven’t made it past the Sweet 16.

On Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, facing the Huskies in the Sweet 16, Ohio State changed that. With an 73-61 win, the Buckeyes snapped UConn’s historic Final Four streak and are in the Elite Eight for the first time since the Katie Smith-led Final Four run 30 years ago. Freshman forward Cotie McMahon, unafraid of the largest stage she’s played on, led the Buckeyes with 23 points.

The first four minutes were the exact kind of start Ohio State was looking to avoid. UConn built a 10-2 lead, as the Buckeyes struggled to slow the Huskies down in the half court and couldn’t score at the other end of the floor.

But after a timeout with 5:57 left in the first quarter, Ohio State no longer looked helpless in the face of UConn’s talent. The tide didn’t immediately turn, but the Buckeyes began to settle in and slowly chipped away at the Huskies’ lead. By the 3:57 mark, led by a layup and a made free throw by McMahon, they’d cut the lead to five points, and started to force more and more turnovers with their full-court press.

Lou Lopez Sénéchal made a 3-pointer with 2:37 left in the first quarter. It was the last time the Huskies would score for more than seven minutes. McMahon, senior point guard Jacy Sheldon and sophomore forward Taylor Thierry made layups for an Ohio State 6-0 run, cutting the lead to 17-15 through 10 minutes, and the Buckeyes forced four turnovers over the final three minutes of the quarter.

McMahon, who entered the game 13 of 52 from beyond the arc on the season, hit a 3 to give Ohio State its first lead just over a minute into the second quarter, and she came right back down the floor to make another 41 seconds later. By the time the Huskies ended their scoring drought with a layup from guard Azzi Fudd at the 5:27 mark, the Buckeyes had come from eight points down to take a seven-point lead, 26-19.

But Ohio State continued to remain largely in control, with another 6-0 run late in the quarter to stretch its lead up to 13 points. The Huskies got a layup from guard Nika Muhl and a free throw from guard Caroline Ducharme to trail 36-26 through two quarters — just the fifth time in NCAA Tournament history that UConn faced a double-digit deficit at halftime.

The Buckeyes forced 18 turnovers in the first half, two more than the Huskies’ average of 16 per game, and 25 in the game.

To open the third quarter, the teams traded baskets, but a nearly-four minute scoring drought for Ohio State in the middle of the quarter gave UConn an opening. The Huskies took advantage, making four baskets in a row to get within five points at 44-39.

But out of the ensuing timeout, senior guard Taylor Mikesell made a jump shot — just her second basket of the game — to put the Buckeyes back up by seven, and Ohio State remained just far enough in front for the rest of the quarter. Every time it looked like UConn could break the game open, the Buckeyes responded, refusing to let the Huskies get on a roll.

Fudd cut the lead to eight with 21 seconds left in the third quarter, but Thierry’s layup with just four seconds left put Ohio State back up by 10 points heading into the final 10 minutes.

Mikesell was visibly playing through pain — often receiving treatment on her hamstrings during timeouts — but she made her first 3-pointer of the game to open the fourth quarter. Moments later, redshirt junior guard Rikki Harris went on a solo 5-0 run, with two free throws and a 3, to give Ohio State a 16-point lead, its largest of the game.

After a timeout called by UConn coach Geno Auriemma, the Buckeyes got three offensive rebounds on the same possession, before Harris finally made a jumper and drew a foul. But UConn chipped into the deficit from that point, eventually getting within 10 points after Lopez Sénéchal made two free throws with 4:31 left to play.