OSU women fall at Washington

Amber Melgoza scored 17 of her 28 points in the second half, and Washington scored 24 points off of 21 Ohio State turnovers to defeat the Buckeyes 69-59 in a women’s basketball game late Wednesday in Seattle.

Makayla Waterman and Dorka Juhasz scored 11 points apiece for Ohio State (3-3), which trailed 32-26 at halftime and closed to 40-35 on a layup by Najah Queenland with 4:30 remaining in the third quarter.

The Huskies (6-3) then went on a 9-0 run to take a 49-35 lead, sparked by threepoint baskets from Haley Van Dyke and Melgoza, who finished 4 of 7 from three-point range.

Ohio State made another push in the fourth quarter, using a 9-0 run to pull to 49-44 on a three-pointer by Janai Crooms with 8:33 remaining. But Washington’s Alexis Griggsby answered with a three-pointer at the other end, and Darcy Rees made a layup on the next possession to push the lead back to 54-44.

The Huskies never led by fewer than seven points the rest of the way. Melgoza and Khayla Rooks combined to make 4 of 4 free throws in the final 2½ minutes.

Queenland scored eight points and Crooms seven for the Buckeyes, who received 23 points from their bench. The OSU starters, however, combined to make only 10 of 35 shots from the field (28.6 percent).

The loss spoiled by the return of Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff to Seattle, where he coached the Huskies from 2011-13.

The Buckeyes will not play again until Sunday, Dec. 16, when they play Florida at St. John Arena. Ohio State will honor former OSU great Katie Smith for her recent induction into both the Women’s Basketball and Naismith halls of fame.