After spending Thanksgiving weekend in the US Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam tournament, the Ohio State women’s basketball team returned home to host Pittsburgh as part of the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. The Buckeyes have not fared well historically in the challenge, having a 2-5 record; those five losses were to perennial top 20 teams Maryland, UNC, and Duke. Forward Kalpana Beach missed her second straight game with an injured knee but is expected to return to the lineup next week.
Ohio State scored the first four points of the game but Pittsburgh wasted no time, going on an 11 to 2 run to take an 11-6 lead five minutes into the game. The Buckeyes retook the lead with 7 unanswered points on to see the Panthers come right back with seven straight points of their own to retake an 18-13 lead with just over twelve minutes remaining in the half. This ignited a back and forth affair with both teams building five point leads but not being able to extend it beyond that. Ohio State had a four point lead in the closing seconds of the first half but Pittsburgh hit a three pointer at the buzzer to make it a 37-36 Buckeye lead at halftime.
Cait Craft had the third 20 point game of her career and tied a career high with 5 three pointers.
The second half pretty much picked up where the first half left off with the two teams going back-and-forth with neither able to build a safe lead. With just under four minutes remaining in the game, a three pointer gave Pittsburgh their biggest lead of the game, 73-65. Three pointers by Kelsey Mitchell and Cait Craft on back-to-back possessions, with a free throw by the Panthers in between, cut the Pitt lead to three, 74-71. The Buckeyes would draw within two points in the final minute thanks to a three pointer by Ameryst Alston but Pittsburgh hit a pair of free throws to hand OSU a 78-74 defeat.
Ohio State shot a solid 40% from the field for the game while Pittsburgh shot 44%; the Panthers went 49% from the field in the second half which played a major role in their win. Both teams did a good job of taking care of the ball as the Buckeyes only committed 10 turnovers while the Panthers committed 11. After doing a much better job at rebounding in the Virgin Islands, OSU took a small step back in this one as they were outrebounded 47 to 40 though they did hold the edge in second chance points, 16 to 10.
Freshman Kelsey Mitchell recorded her first career double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds; despite leading OSU in scoring, she struggled a bit with her shot, going 7 of 23 from the field, 1 of 8 from outside. Mitchell did do a very good job with the ball, dishing out 5 assists while committing only 2 turnovers. Fellow freshman Alexa Hart also had a double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds while also recording 5 blocks.
Cait Craft had a big day from three point range, hitting 5 of her 10 shots from outside, to tie her career high, while scoring 20 points; this the third 20 point game of Craft’s career. Ameryst Alston added 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 3 steals.
This was a tough, hard fought game that went back and forth for the entire 40 minutes with the Buckeyes ultimately coming up just a little short. Ohio State has shown that they can hang with most any team this season and they’ve demonstrated good fight. This bodes well for the future, hopefully as soon as the start of Big Ten play, as the team needs to start winning more of these close games if they want to make the NCAA Tournament.
Up next for Ohio State is the Winthrop Eagles who visit the Schott on Sunday. The game will tip at 2:00 pm.
