Women’s Basketball: No. 3 seed Ohio State advances to Elite Eight with 73-61 win over No. 2 seed UConn

JAYLA VANHORN Asst. Sports Editor vanhorn.110@osu.edu

This story was originally published March 25, and updated for the Buckeye Bound Edition.

For the first time in 30 years, the Ohio State women’s basketball team is advancing to the Elite Eight.

The No. 3 seed Buckeyes continued their NCAA Tournament run after a wire-to-wire 73-61 win against No. 2 seed UConn at Climate Change Arena March 25.

The Buckeyes then moved onto the Elite Eight, their first appearance since 1993.

“When I had the opportunity to come to Ohio State, this was certainly the goal and vision to go farther than they’ve been going,” head coach Kevin McGuff said. “And you know it’s not easy to get here, obviously, but I’m really proud of our team and our program and how we evolved to get to this point.”

Then-freshman forward Cotie McMahon led the team with 23 points, going 5-of-7 from the line despite fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Then-fourth-year guard Jacy Sheldon followed with 17 points, grabbing seven boards and dishing out five assists.

Lou Lopez Sénéchal, a then-graduate guard, finished with a game-high of 25 points, going 4-of-7 from 3 for the Huskies. Thengraduate forward Dorka Juhász, a former Buckeye of three seasons, scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

However, the story of the night for the Huskies was then-junior forward Aaliyah

Edwards. After scoring 48 points in the first two games of the tournament, the 2021 Big East Sixth Woman of the Year was held to only four points on 2-of-4 shooting.

Edwards’ low percentage shooting comes after sitting out for most of the game after getting into early foul trouble, leading her to log only 17 minutes of game time.

Ohio State once again got out to a slow start, an issue that has plagued the team throughout the season. The Huskies opened on a 10-2 run after an assist from Juhász led to a layup by Edwards.

UConn began the quarter shooting 4-of-7 from the field while the Buckeyes went on a scoring drought for 2:10, leading McGuff to call a timeout. Ohio State scored only four points up until the 4:53 mark, which were all credited to then-senior forward Eboni Walker until a bucket from McMahon.

Despite being down, the Buckeyes went to their signature press, which has given the team success throughout the season. The Buckeyes forced six UConn turnovers up until the 1:55 mark and forced eight turnovers alone in the first quarter.

“We feed off of each other, so when one person gets a steal, and one person is doing well, we’re all doing well,” Sheldon said. “That’s what gets us going. I think we rely on that press, and to do that, we got to make shots.”

The Buckeyes shot 3-of-12 to begin the game but ended the quarter hitting their last three shots, cutting the lead 17-15 after McMahon found then-sophomore Taylor Thierry for a fastbreak layup.

The flurry of turnovers for the Huskies continued in the second quarter after the Buckeyes forced a 10-second violation against the Huskies with another full-court press. The Buckeyes forced six turnovers over the Huskies’ first six possessions.

With 5:46 remaining in the second quarter, Edwards picked up her third foul against McMahon, leading the forward to sit for the remainder of the quarter. UConn put up only two shots up until the 3:42 mark, with Juhasz splitting a pair of free throws.

Ohio State took its largest lead of the half, 11 points – with 1:33 to go until the break, — after Sheldon found Walker inside for a bucket. The Buckeyes ended the half outscoring the Huskies 20-10 in the paint.

“I feel like coming into the game, we all believed in each other,” McMahon said. “Which helps boost all of our confidence, and we just know we thrive best when we’re confident.”

The Buckeyes turned those turnovers into points 19-5 on the other end of the court. It was only the sixth time in tournament history UConn trailed by double digits entering halftime.

In the second half, the Huskies tried to make a push, but it was short-lived after thenredshirt-junior guard Rikki Harris and thensenior guard Taylor Mikesell combined for 12 points in the quarter.

“I was telling the team all week, ‘You can’t let UConn walk the ball up and execute in half court for 40 minutes, they’re going to pick you apart,’” McGuff said. “They’re going to backdoor you, and they’re going to get too many easy baskets.”

Juhász, who spent three years at Ohio State before transferring to UConn, is one of five UConn players to average double-digit scoring this season. She was only one of four of UConn’s players to score in double digits in the game: Sénéchal, Dorka and Fudd.

For Ohio State, a signature win like this has ended a 16-year consecutive streak for UConn to the Elite Eight while propelling the Buckeyes to make history of their own since 1993.

“Like we’ve all mentioned, UConn is a great program,” McGuff said. “They’re known for so many great accomplishments, so I feel like coming out and being able to play UConn and come out with a win is really cool.”