Ohio State’s Big Ten Tournament run ended with a semifinal loss to UCLA for the second year in a row.
After beating Indiana and Minnesota in their first two games of Big Ten Tournament play, the Buckeyes (26-7) were unable to dethrone the conference’s top team on Saturday, falling 72-62 to No. 1 seed UCLA (30-1) in the semifinals.
A balanced scoring effort led the Bruins to victory; Kiki Rice (17), Lauren Betts (14), Angela Dugalic (14), Gianna Kneepkens (13) and Gabriela Jaquez (10) all scored in double figures for UCLA, which hasn’t lost to a conference opponent all year. Chance Gray led Ohio State with 23 points in defeat.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #5 OHIO STATE | 10 | 11 | 19 | 22 | 62 |
| #1 UCLA | 14 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 72 |
UCLA started the game on a 14-3 run to take early control of the contest. The Buckeyes finished the first quarter on a 7-0 run, but the Bruins started the second quarter on a 16-4 run to take a 16-point lead. Gray scored five straight points for Ohio State from there, but UCLA held a double-digit lead for the rest of the first half, taking a 32-21 advantage into halftime.
After scoring only 10 points in the first quarter and 11 points in the second, Ohio State scored 13 points in the first half of the third quarter. Jaloni Cambridge scored six of those points after scoring only two points in the first half. UCLA’s offensive pace also picked up, though, preventing the Buckeyes from cutting the deficit below seven. The Bruins finished the third quarter on a 7-2 run to take a 52-40 lead into the final quarter.
| OHIO STATE | STAT | UCLA |
|---|---|---|
| 62 | POINTS | 72 |
| 21-57 (36.8%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 28-63 (44.4%) |
| 6-18 (33.3%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 6-19 (31.6%) |
| 14-15 (93.3%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 10-12 (83.3%) |
| 34 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 34 |
| 11 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 10 |
| 23 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 24 |
| 8 | BENCH POINTS | 16 |
| 16 | ASSISTS | 20 |
| 15 | TURNOVERS | 12 |
| 4 | BLOCKS | 6 |
| 6 | STEALS | 10 |
The Buckeyes never stopped fighting. Ohio State started the fourth quarter on a 9-5 run. After five straight UCLA points from Rice and Betts, Gray scored five straight points to cut the deficit to eight again. The Buckeyes cut the deficit to seven points on a pair of Cambridge free throws with 1:24 to play. Misses by Cambridge and Elsa Lemmilä on Ohio State’s next two possessions, however, allowed UCLA to keep the Buckeyes at arm’s length and secure a 10-point win.
Even with Saturday’s loss, Ohio State is well-positioned to earn a spot on the top four seedlines of the NCAA Tournament and host first- and second-round games for the fourth year in a row. The Buckeyes will enter the NCAA Tournament with a 26-7 record, including wins over five other teams currently ranked in the top 20 of the AP poll: No. 10 TCU, No. 14 Maryland, No. 15 West Virginia, No. 18 Michigan State and No. 19 Minnesota.
The NCAA Tournament bracket will be revealed at 8 p.m. Sunday, March 15, on ESPN.
