It wasn’t as easy as almost all of their other previous wins, but the Buckeyes picked up their 15th straight win to start the season with a 84-77 win over Michigan on Wednesday night. Behind 22 second-half points from freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to stay undefeated.
For a team that hasn’t had to face much adversity this entire season, the Buckeyes looked more than ready to play their best with their backs against the wall down 44-31 to start the second half. Led by seven early points from Cambridge, the Buckeyes opened the half on a 14-3 scoring run over the first 5:42, to cut Michigan’s lead to 47-45.
The Wolverines scored on two of their next three possessions to increase their lead back to four, but junior guard Chance Gray made two straight three-point jumpers to tie the game at 53.
Michigan responded by scoring the last four points of the third quarter and increased its lead to five with 5:59 to go in the fourth quarter after two free throws from senior guard Jordan Hobbs.
Gray scored five straight points to again tie the game at 64. Although Michigan answered with a layup, Cambridge made a mid-range jumper on the other end to level the game. Senior guard Taylor Thierry made a layup and finally gave Ohio State its first lead of the game with only 4:26 remaining in the final quarter.
Ohio State’s lead was pushed down to 1 point after freshman guard Olivia Olson connected on a three-point jumper at the 2:26 mark, but McMahon made one of two at the free throw line before Cambridge made a jumper to increase the lead to four.
Michigan center Yulia Grabovskaia made a hook shot that cut Ohio State’s lead to 75-73 with just 48 seconds left, but Cambridge made a clutch layup eight seconds later.
The Buckeyes came up with three straight stops defensively as part of an 8-0 scoring run over 28 seconds to take a 83-73 lead with only 20 seconds left.
Michigan made two more two-point baskets in the last 20 seconds, but it wasn’t enough to prevent Ohio State from coming away with the 7-point win.
Cambridge flashed her seemingly limitless potential in the win, leading the team with 29 points on 11-of-23 shooting. Cambridge also led the team with four assists, while Thierry and graduate forward Ajae Petty tied for a team-high with seven rebounds.
Ohio State had a very efficient shooting night, making 32-of-64 field goals (50 percent). Michigan also shot the ball very well from the field and made 32-of-60 shots (53.3 percent), but Ohio State managed to force 18 turnovers, while only committing 10 turnovers in the win.
Olson was by far Michigan’s leading scorer in the game. In her first game against the Buckeyes, Olson led the Wolverines with 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
