Ohio State women return to form against Maine, advance to NCAA Tournament second round
With two weeks to think about everything that went wrong in the Big Ten Tournament, Ohio State returned to action in the opening round of the women's NCAA Tournament looking more like the team that won 15 straight games in the regular season.
Hosting the first and second rounds of the tournament at Value City Arena as the No. 2 seed, Ohio State defeated No. 15 Maine 80-57 in dominant fashion.
Jacy Sheldon led Ohio State with 19 points. The fifth-year Buckeye from Dublin broke the career 2,000-point mark on a layup with 2:53 left in the second quarter.
In a successful attempt to bounce back from their worst shooting performance of the year against Maryland in their prior game, the Buckeyes shot 50.9% from the field against the Black Bears, who are a top-15 ranked defensive team in the nation.
Cotie McMahon got on the board with a quick basket for Ohio State in the first possession of the game. The sophomore was just one starter who contributed to a strong offensive start for the Buckeyes, but the Black Bears managed to stay in reach for a majority of the first quarter and even take a 14-11 lead with 3:55 remaining.
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It was the efforts of Maine's Olivia Rockwell that kept the Black Bears in the game during the first quarter. The senior guard went hit three back-to-back 3-point baskets to record 9 of her 15 points early in the first quarter.
Thirty seconds later, Taylor Thierry hit a layup off an offensive rebound to start Ohio State's 11-2 run to finish the first quarter and 32-10 run to go into halftime ahead 43-24.
Adding momentum to an already pumped-up Buckeyes team, both Sheldon and guard Madison Greene hit buzzer-beaters to finish the first and second quarters, respectively.
Incomparable Ohio State press
Entering the matchup, Maine coach Amy Vachon said her team had never faced a press comparable to Ohio State's. In the first half, it was the Buckeyes' half-court defense along with their press that forced 13 turnovers.
Co-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Celeste Taylor recorded six steals in the game to go along with her 12 points. Many of her baskets came off Maine turnovers, including the first points of the second half when she intercepted a bounce pass for a fast-break layup.
Maine finished the game with 22 turnovers compared to Ohio State's 12.
The Black Bears' overall season leading scorer, Anne Simon, recorded a game-high 25 points while four Ohio State players, including Sheldon, finished the game in scoring the double-digits.
Ohio State will face the winners of the No. 7 seed Duke vs. No. 10 seed Richmond matchup on Sunday in the second round of the tournament at Value City Arena.