After a long nine-day break, Ohio State (13-0, 2-0 Big Ten) looked like the same elite team in its 77-63 road win over Rutgers (8-5, 0-2 Big Ten) on Sunday.
In her first game back from a shoulder injury suffered on Dec. 10, freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge helped the Buckeyes start the game on an 8-2 scoring run with a layup. All Big-Ten guard Destiny Adams stopped the bleeding for the Scarlet Knights with a layup, but the Buckeyes scored seven straight points to take a 15-4 lead at the 6:49 mark of the first quarter.
Adams scored 10 more points the rest of the first quarter, as Rutgers responded with its own 12-5 scoring run, trimming Ohio State’s lead to 20-16 with 1:06 to go in the first quarter.
Freshman guard Ava Watson became the sixth Buckeye to get in the scoring column with a three-point jumper with four seconds to go in the first quarter, the shot also gave Ohio State a 23-16 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Buckeyes’ lead remained around seven until senior guard Taylor Thierry scored six points to lead an 11-1 scoring run over 3:13.
Rutgers broke a 3:46 scoring drought with a two-point basket from guard Kiyomi McMiller, but Ohio State ended the half with an 8-2 scoring run to secure a 46-25 advantage at the midway point.
Ohio State’s superb ending to the first half was partially negated by a 9-0 scoring run from Rutgers over the first three minutes of the third quarter.
Junior guard Chance Gray finally snapped the scoreless streak at the 6:43 mark with a free throw that made Ohio State’s lead 47-34. The Buckeyes’ first field goal of the second half didn’t come until 4:22 in the third quarter when forward Cotie McMahon made a layup.
McMahon’s layup help sparked a 15-2 scoring run over 4:17, which gave the Buckeyes a 62-38 lead.
Adams continued her excellent day by scoring four points in the last two minutes of the third quarter to lead Rutgers on a 7-0 spurt, but Ohio State still held a comfortable 62-45 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Four straight free throws from Adams had the Scarlet Knights within 11 points of the Buckeyes, but Ohio State created a little more breathing room with a subsequent 7-2 spurt. Despite trailing 69-53 with 4:08 to go Rutgers kept battling and cut Ohio State’s lead back down to nine at the 2:12 mark. The Buckeyes’ defense zeroed in during crunch time and allowed no more field goals the rest of the game to secure the 14-point victory.
Ohio State was led by senior forward Ajae Petty and McMahon who each recorded double-doubles. Both players led the way in scoring with 16 points. Petty was much more efficient, making 5-of-7 shooting (71.4 percent), while McMahon shot 5-of-16 from the field (31.3 percent). McMahon and Petty grabbed 11 and 10 rebounds respectively.
She didn’t have her best shooting performance, (1-of-13 from the field), but Cambridge led the team with 7 assists in her first game back from injury. As a team, Ohio State had a mediocre shooting performance, making just 28-of-67 field goals (41.8 percent), but the Buckeyes’ defense was stingy enough to hold Rutgers to a 23-of-64 shooting performance (35.9 percent).
Despite the loss, Adams was sensational for Rutgers. She had team-highs with 31 points and 17 rebounds.
