Historic comeback propels OSU women past Hoosiers
Ohio State wanted to flip history on Indiana in the Big Ten women’s basketball tournament semifinal.
After falling to the Hoosiers as the No. 1-seed in last season’s conference tournament semifinal, the Buckeyes, a No. 4-seed, aimed to exact revenge against the top-seeded Hoosiers on Saturday. The Buckeyes had not beaten Indiana in two regular-season matchups.
At first, it seemed Ohio State was caught in Indiana’s buzz saw, watching the Hoosiers break free with an 18-2 first-half run and take a 24-point lead. But Ohio State stormed back, cutting the deficit to four with a 25-9 run.
In the fourth quarter, Ohio State didn’t want to only flip recent history with Indiana, but Big Ten history, aiming to make the largest comeback ever at its conference tournament. A Rikki Harris layup with 37 seconds left put Ohio State in the history books, beating Indiana 79-75 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
Ohio State’s 24-point comeback ties the Big Ten record for the largest in any conference game in history.
Two free throws by Jacy Sheldon secured the win. Ohio State takes on either Iowa or Maryland in the final todayy.
Trailing by seven points with 5:30 to go, Sheldon took control, scoring six straight points to bring Ohio State to within a point. Senior guard Taylor Mikesell gave Ohio State its first lead since the first basket of the first quarter.
In the final 5:30, Ohio State limited the Hoosiers to five points and four made field goals on 18 shot attempts.
Ohio State’s initial offensive woes were unprecedented. The Buckeyes scored 26 points in the first half — the least of the season — with one 3-point make on 13 attempts.
It was a run Indiana took advantage of, using a 16-0 first-half run to break free, including double-digit scoring performances by Sara Scalia and Grace Berger in the first 20 minutes.
Ohio State brought an offensive boost at the start of the second half, making five of its first 10 shots, including 3-pointers by Taylor Thierry, Harris and Rebeka Mikulasikova.
Thierry finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while freshman forward Cotie Mcmahon, a Centerville High School graduate, followed up a 28-point performance against Michigan with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Mikesell was limited to 13 points, making four of her 13 shot attempts.
Ohio State limited Indiana forward and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Mackenzie Holmes to 10 points and seven rebounds.