Jaloni Cambridge Scores 27, Leads Ohio State To 80-69 Win Over Wisconsin

No. 9 Ohio State (17-0, 6-0 Big Ten) had its hands full with Wisconsin (10-8, 1-6 Big Ten) on Thursday, but 49 combined points from freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge and junior guard Chance Gray was enough to come away with an 80-69 victory at the Kohl Center.

It didn’t seem like the Buckeyes were taking on a team with only one Big Ten win in the opening minute. The Badgers knocked down back-to-back three-point jumpers on their first two possessions and forced the Buckeyes into an early turnover to create a 6-0 lead.

The Buckeyes responded when Freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge and junior guard Chance Gray combined for nine points during a 14-2 scoring run. The Buckeyes’ 14-8 lead was erased by a 8-2 spurt from the Badgers over 2:06, but junior forward Cotie McMahon scored four points in the last 1:58 of the first quarter to give her a team a 22-18 lead heading into the second quarter.

She didn’t have a ton of help, but Cambridge was virtually unstoppable in the second quarter. The true freshman made her first six field goals of the period while her teammates combined to miss their first nine field goals. Cambridge’s efficient start to the quarter was pretty much negated by her teammates’ struggles, and at the 5:11 mark Wisconsin guard Lily Krahn knocked down a three-point jumper to cut Ohio State’s lead to 30-27.

Cambridge immediately answered with her fifth straight make to start the quarter, this one from beyond the arc. After her sixth and final field goal of the half, senior guard Taylor Thierry finally gave Cambridge some offensive support and scored four points in the last two minutes of the half, to give the Buckeyes a 39-32 halftime lead.

The halftime break didn’t impact Cambridge’s scoring abilities. On the Buckeyes’ very first possession, Cambridge scored a layup and a subsequent free throw after being fouled.

Wisconsin cut into Ohio State’s lead with a three-point jumper from graduate guard Tess Myers, but Gray knocked down two triples of her own in a span of 1:13 to extend the Buckeye lead back to 48-37. Wisconsin forward Serah Williams scored six points in a 1:13 span during the middle of the third quarter to cut Ohio State’s lead to 50-43, but McMahon scored a layup on the other end.

The Badgers didn’t cool down offensively, instead, Williams led her team on a 9-3 scoring run late in the third quarter, and the Buckeyes’ lead was trimmed down to three points.

Ohio State handled the adversity well and a pair of baskets from redshirt sophomore guard Kennedy Cambridge increased the lead late in the third quarter.

The Badgers were still in a decent spot only trailing by six with 10 seconds to go, but they made a critical error right before the buzzer sounded, fouling Gray while she was shooting a three-point shot.

Gray made all three free throws and gave her team a 63-54 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Buckeyes used Gray’s clutch free throws to create momentum and score the first five points of the fourth quarter.

After a 22-point third quarter, the Badgers lost their offensive rhythm in the fourth quarter. As a team, Wisconsin only made one field goal in the first 4:51 of the fourth quarter, and the Buckeyes took advantage to create a 73-57 lead. Cambridge scored five more points in the last 5:01, and the Badgers only got as close as 10 points before the Buckeyes ultimately earned the 11-point victory.

Jaloni Cambridge and Chance Gray were the Buckeyes’ two leading scorers with 27 points and 22 points respectively. Cambridge was the more efficient scorer making 11-of-16 shots, but Gray had a solid shooting performance making 7-of-15 shots. Cambridge also tacked on seven rebounds and a team-high four assists. Although McMahon didn’t reach the 20-point threshold, she had a stellar performance with 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Ohio State had a decent shooting performance, making 32-of-70 shots (45.7 percent), and defensively held Wisconsin to 26-of-58 from the field (44.8 percent).

Williams had a sensational performance for the Badgers in the losing effort, she scored 20 points while making 8-of-17 shots from the field (47.1 percent) and grabbed a team-high 17 rebounds.