No. 18 OSU women upset at Syracuse
The No. 18 Ohio State women's basketball team had yet to play a road game this season. And it showed.
After jumping out to a 15-3 lead Wednesday against a Syracuse team that was picked 13th in the ACC preseason poll and had been blown out by two other ranked teams this season, the Buckeyes struggled to get stops on the defensive end and lost 97-91.
The Buckeyes (5-1) entered the game with the nation's top offense, averaging almost 90 points per game against a weak schedule. A flurry of points late in the fourth quarter as the Buckeyes tried to come back from a 13-point deficit made the offense look a bit better than what it was.
But overall, Ohio State was humbled ahead of its Big Ten opener on Sunday at Purdue.
“I think we could've stolen that from them if we just played as hard as we did at the start of the game,” OSU coach Kevin Mcguff said. “I told them in the locker room, 'You're not going to go on the road and beat an ACC team if we're not the hardest playing team.' "
Leading scorer Jacy Sheldon struggled to find good looks from the floor until late in the game. She made her first two 3-pointers late in the fourth quarter to bring the Buckeyes back to an 89-82 deficit. But on the next possession, Syracuse easily broke Ohio State's press and scored a layup.
In the final minute, Ohio State got a turnover trailing
93-86. Senior guard Taylor Mikesell had her 3point shot rattle in and out of the basket, narrowly missing a chance to cut the deficit to four points with 27 seconds left.
Sheldon finished the game with 23 points. Mikesell had 21 and Rebeka Mikulasikova had 16.
SYRACUSE 97, OHIO STATE 91
OHIO STATE — Harris 2-4 3-6 9, Sheldon 7-15 7-8 23, Poole 3-8 0-2 6, Miller 2-5 1-4 5, Mikulasikova 6-13 3-4 16, Mikesell 8-20 0-0 21, Beacham 5-5 1-2 11. Totals: 33-70 15-26 91. SYRACUSE — Styles 3-4 4-4 10, Hyman 12-18 2-4 30, Murray 8-13 2-2 21, Rice 2-3 0-0 4, Chrislyn Carr 5-13 12-14 23, Christianna Carr 3-13 2-2 9. Totals: 33-64 22-26 97. Ohio State 23 16 19 33 — 91
Syracuse 17 19 29 32 — 97
3-point goals: Ohio State 10-31 (Mikesell 5-13, Harris 2-3, Sheldon 2-8, Mikulasikova 1-2, Miller 0-1, Poole 0-4), Syracuse 9-23 (Hyman 4-6, Murray 3-6, Christ. Carr 1-5, Chrisl. Carr 1-6). Rebounds: Ohio State 39 (Mikulasikova 7), Syracuse 35 (Murray, Christ. Carr 7). Assists: Ohio State 19 (Poole, Miller 5), Syracuse 17 (Hyman 6). Fouled out: Poole, Christ. Carr. Total fouls: Ohio State 19, Syracuse 18. A: 847.