Ohio State capped its 67-63 win over Belmont on Sunday at the Curb Event Center in Nashville with a 17-4 scoring run to overcome a 9-point deficit with 5:21 to go.
At least at the beginning of the game, it didn’t seem like the Buckeyes were going to be entrenched in a nail-biter in the fourth quarter.
Ohio State opened the second quarter with a 9-0 scoring run to take a 29-16 lead with 7:10 to go before halftime.
However, the Bears responded with back-to-back 3-point jumpers. The 6-0 spurt from Belmont cut the Ohio State lead to 29-22, and forced Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff to call a timeout.
Out of the timeout, the Buckeyes still struggled on both ends of the floor. Freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge turned the ball over multiple times, and the Bears took advantage of the Buckeyes’ offensive struggles with a third-made three-point jumper in the quarter and a pair of free throws to cut Ohio State’s lead to 29-27.
A missed shot from McMahon and a foul from freshman center Elsa Lemmila allowed the Bears to take their first lead of the second quarter when graduate senior guard Kendall Holmes made two free throws.
Ohio State’s defense went into a rhythm before the end of the half and the team did not allow a single point in the last 2:37, and senior forward Ajae Petty made a second-chance basket with 0:13 to go in the half to give the Buckeyes a 36-32 lead at the break.
The Bears’ offensive and defensive intensity only increased to start the second half, and junior guard Emily La Chappell made three consecutive baskets to tie the game at 38.
Despite a three-minute field goal drought, the Buckeyes continued to score from the free throw line, however, the Bears answered with a layup from Holmes and two free throws to cut Ohio State’s lead to 47-46.
Holmes made another layup, while Ohio State’s field goal drought grew to over six minutes, and Belmont took a 48-47 lead with less than a minute to go in the third quarter.
McMahon missed a jumper out of a timeout on the Buckeyes’ next possession, and La Chappell made her fourth basket of the quarter to give Belmont a 50-47 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
McMahon drew a foul with eight minutes to go in the final quarter, with the Buckeyes still trailing 52-49, but she missed her two free throws and Belmont responded with a layup and a three-point jumper from Holmes to extend the lead to eight with 6:20 to go.
Ohio State senior guard Taylor Thierry bailed out a poor Buckeye possession by drawing a foul but only connected on one-of-two free throws. The Buckeyes played good defense on the next possession for about 20 seconds, but couldn’t come up with the defensive rebound, and Belmont took a 59-50 lead on a layup from guard Kensley Feltner with 5:21 left in the game.
With the 1,814 fans in attendance smelling an upset, McMahon kept the Buckeyes in it by making a layup while being fouled. McMahon missed the free throw, but Ohio State junior guard Chance Gray connected on a three-point jumper to cut Belmont’s lead to 59-55 one possession later.
The Buckeyes strung together a couple of stops, and Thierry drilled a clutch three-point jumper to trim the deficit to just one point. The Buckeyes’ full-court press forced a Belmont turnover, and Gray made a layup to give Ohio State a 60-59 lead with 3:00 remaining.
Another Buckeye stop gave the team the lead and the ball with 2:25 to go, Gray crossed over a Belmont defender before finding Kennedy Cambridge open on the wing. Cambridge drained the triple and gave the Buckeyes their biggest lead of the fourth quarter to that point.
Holmes drained two clutch free throws with 1:39 left in the game. Ohio State still had the ball up two points with 50 seconds left, but Jaloni Cambridge had the ball poked away and the Bears were able to make two free throws in their ensuing offensive possession to tie the game at 63. McGuff called a timeout with 17 seconds to go in the game, and drew up a play for Jaloni Cambridge. Cambridge crossed over a Belmont defender got fouled, made a layup, and the subsequent free throw to put Ohio State up three with just 14 seconds remaining.
With only two seconds on the clock and the Bears looking for a 3-point basket, Cambridge drew an offensive foul to give the Buckeyes the ball.
Cambridge made one-of-two free throws, which was all Ohio State needed to win the game 67-63.
Despite the win, Ohio State’s 33.8 field goal percentage was its worst mark of the season. The team connected on 23-of-68 shots. McMahon was the Buckeyes’ leading scorer with 21 points, shooting 8-of-19 from the field.
Belmont had a similarly inefficient day from the field and made 22-of-62 shots while being led by Holmes with 19 points. Holmes made 6-of-10 shots before fouling out in the game.
