In the semifinals of the Big Ten tournament on Saturday, Ohio State (25-6, 14-6 Big Ten) had one of its worst performances of the season on both ends, falling 75-46 to UCLA (29-2, 17-2 Big Ten).
Ohio State’s 29-point loss was its largest of the season. If the game wasn’t already decided at halftime when the Buckeyes trailed 44-21, then it certainly was a few minutes into the third quarter when the Bruins built a 61-25 lead.
The Buckeyes never found a rhythm offensively making just 19-of-57 shots from the field (33.3 percent), and on the other end, UCLA made 32-of-63 shots including 11-of-24 from 3-point range.
The Buckeyes struggled to keep up with the favored Bruins from the start of the game. Ohio State made only 2 of its first 10 shots and fell behind 16-5 with 3:00 to go in the first quarter. While the Buckeyes were struggling to put the ball in the basket in the opening frame, the Bruins had six players score in the first quarter, and as a team shot 10-of-14 from the field.
The Bruins’ offensive efficiency helped fuel a 6-1 spurt to end the first quarter, which made the score 22-8 in favor of the Bruins heading into the second quarter.
Cotie McMahon got on the board in the second quarter with a pair of mid-range jumpers but UCLA star center Lauren Betts led her team on a 6-0 scoring run that put the Bruins up 31-12.
Freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge helped the Buckeyes chip into UCLA’s lead with a pair of mid-range jump shots, but Ohio State’s momentum was short-lived.
The Bruins scored the last nine points of the half, five of which came from junior guard Londynn Jones, who made a mid-range jumper right before the buzzer to grow the Bruins’ lead to 44-21 at halftime.
The Buckeyes’ fortunes didn’t change after the halftime break. McMahon made a turnaround jump shot to start the third quarter, but the Bruins all but ended any hope the Buckeyes had of a comeback with a 17-2 scoring run over 5:08 that made the score 61-25.
Ohio State didn’t allow a UCLA point in the first 3:24 of the fourth quarter but only managed two points on the offensive end during that span after a layup from graduate forward Ajae Petty.
In garbage time in the last 3:41 of the fourth quarter, Ohio State went on a meaningless 12-2 scoring run to avoid its first 30-point loss of the season. Still, the Buckeyes’ 46 points scored in the 29-point loss was their lowest total of the season.
Ohio State was led by Jaloni Cambridge in the loss, she had a decent outing with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting after struggling in Ohio State’s narrow win over Iowa.
Cambridge was the only Buckeye to score in double-digits, she and freshman center Elsa Lemmila led the Buckeyes with two assists, while Petty led the Buckeyes with with four rebounds.
Jones was the only Bruin to play at least 30 minutes in the blowout win, she led her team with 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting.
