Short rest didn’t affect the Buckeyes in their win over the Cardinals on Tuesday at Value City Arena. Just two days after picking up its first ranked win of the season, Ohio State (9-0, 1-0 Big Ten) convincingly defeated Ball State (6-3) 80-48. Despite the win, the Buckeyes saw freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge leave the game in the third quarter with a shoulder injury.
It took the Buckeyes only 4:02 to create a double-digit advantage after they started the game on a 14-2 scoring run. The run was led by Ohio State junior guard Chance Gray, who knocked down a 3-point jumper, and an and-1 layup, the latter of which gave the team the 12-point lead with 5:58 to go.
The Cardinals found their footing a little bit with a couple of baskets to cut the Buckeye lead to 16-6. However, freshman guard Ava Watson, who scored four points, recorded an assist and a steal in four minutes off the bench in the opening quarter, helped Ohio State end the first quarter on an 8-2 run to lead 24-8.
The Buckeyes were a little bit more inefficient in the second quarter and connected on only one field goal in over 5:30 toward the middle of the second quarter, but their defensive intensity didn’t let up.
Ohio State only allowed 12 points and forced nine turnovers in the second quarter. The Buckeyes’ defensive effort allowed them to take a 38-20 lead into halftime.
Ball State managed to hang around for parts of the third quarter and only trailed 40-24 with 8:35 to go in the third quarter, but the Buckeyes created an insurmountable advantage with a 14-2 scoring run, which lasted 5:01. Gray, whose third three-point jumper of the game served as the catalyst of the run, scored 7 points for the Buckeyes in the third quarter and in the scoring run.
Midway through the run though was when Cambridge was slow to get up after making a hard drive to the basket. When Cambridge did get up she was holding her shoulder and eventually went to the locker room. Cambridge returned to the bench but didn’t return to the game and was replaced by Graduate guard Madison Greene.
The Buckeyes didn’t slow down to end the quarter with some of their backup players in. Instead, Watson hit two more 3-point jumpers, and the Buckeyes ended the third quarter on an 11-3 scoring run to take a 69-36 lead headed into the final quarter.
Head coach Kevin McGuff gave almost every single minute to his backups in the fourth quarter.
The Buckeyes weren’t as efficient with the more inexperienced players in the game, and they scored only 11 points, but for the most part, they protected their lead to preserve the 31-point win.
With 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting including 4-of-9 from three-point range, Gray was the Buckeyes’ leading scorer.
Watson wasn’t as efficient as her junior teammate and made 5-of-12 shots and 3-of-8 3-point attempts, but she still scored 15 points, which was her second-highest total of the season, and the second-most in the game.
Thierry and Petty also reached the double-digit threshold, scoring 12 and 10 points respectively. Petty added a team-high eight rebounds, while Greene led the Buckeyes with six assists off the bench.
Ohio State had a strong shooting night, connecting on 31-of-65 shots for a field goal percentage of 47.7.
Ball State meanwhile made only 20-51 field goals for a field goal percentage of 39.2. The Cardinals were led in scoring by senior forward Maliyah Johnson, who scored 10 points and made 5-of-8 shots from the field.
