Ohio State‘s NCAA Tournament is over in the second round again.
The Buckeyes suffered a home loss in the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row, falling 83-73 to No. 6 seed Notre Dame at the Schottenstein Center.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #6 NOTRE DAME | 20 | 23 | 15 | 25 | 83 |
| #3 OHIO STATE | 22 | 13 | 19 | 19 | 73 |
Ohio State’s Jaloni Cambridge led all scorers with 41 points, but no other Buckeyes scored more than nine. Five Notre Dame players scored in double figures, led by Hannah Hidalgo, who had 26 points, 13 rebounds and eight steals.
The game got off to an ideal start for Ohio State, which made its first five shots from the field – three of them from Cambridge – to race out to an 11-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. Notre Dame quickly cut the lead to three with a 12-3 run sparked by a pair of threes from Iyana Moore. The rest of the first quarter was back-and-forth, with neither team scoring more than four points in a row, and Ohio State finished the quarter up 22-20.
| OHIO STATE | STAT | NOTRE DAME |
|---|---|---|
| 73 | POINTS | 83 |
| 24-52 (46%) | FGM-FGA (PCT.) | 27-62 (44%) |
| 7-15 (47%) | 3PM-3PA (PCT.) | 6-15 (40%) |
| 18-22 (82%) | FTM-FTA (PCT.) | 23-26 (88%) |
| 31 | TOTAL REBOUNDS | 36 |
| 6 | OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 11 |
| 25 | DEFENSIVE REBOUNDS | 25 |
| 2 | BENCH POINTS | 12 |
| 10 | ASSISTS | 3 |
| 21 | TURNOVERS | 15 |
| 5 | BLOCKS | 2 |
| 8 | STEALS | 13 |
After Cambridge scored the first two points of the second quarter, Notre Dame took the lead with a run of eight straight points. The Fighting Irish extended their lead to seven points before a 7-2 run for the Buckeyes, which was sparked by Kennedy Cambridge returning to the game after a trip back to the locker room following a hard fall. The Fighting Irish finished the quarter on an 8-2 run, however, to take an eight-point lead into halftime.
Notre Dame scored seven of the first nine points of the second half to extend its lead to 13. The Buckeyes responded with 10 straight points to cut the margin to three. After a pair of Notre Dame buckets by Hidalgo and Cassandre Prosper, Ohio State cut the lead to one point with 2:42 to play in the third quarter off six straight points by Jaloni Cambridge. The Fighting Irish scored four of the final five points of the quarter to take a 58-54 lead into the final frame.
Notre Dame scored eight of the first 10 points in the fourth quarter to build its lead back to 10 points. Ohio State scored just five points in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter, allowing the Fighting Irish to pull away and end the Buckeyes’ season on their home floor for the third year in a row.
Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff viewed turnovers as the biggest reason for this year’s loss. While Ohio State’s success is often built on using its press to force opponents into turnovers and turning them into points, Notre Dame won the turnover battle on Monday, forcing 21 while Ohio State forced 15 with both teams scoring 25 points off turnovers.
“Way too many turnovers,” McGuff said. “Typically, we win the battle of points off turnovers; today, it was 25-25, and that's not a good recipe for us to win. But you've got to give Notre Dame credit, I thought they played very well.”
Jaloni Cambridge’s 41 points tied her career-high and are the second-most points ever for a Buckeye in an NCAA Tournament game. But Cambridge didn’t care about that.
“41 doesn't matter with an L,” Cambridge said. “You want to win. If I could have scored zero and got a win, I would have been satisfied.”
Game Notes
- It’s the third year in a row that Ohio State suffered a double-digit loss in the NCAA Tournament.
- Ohio State is the first team to lose at home three years in a row in the NCAA Tournament since the tournament returned to the format of having the top four seeds host first- and second-round games in 2015.
