No. 10 Ohio State continued to struggle in the final stretch of the regular season, losing 74-61 to No. 23 Minnesota on Feb. 18.
The Buckeyes (22-5) traveled to Minnesota (21-6) three days after a 76-75 loss at No. 14 Maryland. The Terrapins capitalized on grabbing 16 more offensive boards than Ohio State, which led to 17 second-chance points.
The same issue caused problems for Ohio State when Minnesota came out at halftime and flipped a three-point deficit to a 10-point lead in five minutes.
While Ohio State was outrebounded 47-32 overall and 15-6 on the offensive boards, the rebounding margin was just two in favor of Minnesota in the first half.
In the Golden Gophers’ dominant third-quarter performance, they outscored the Buckeyes 27-13, hitting four 3-pointers, and won the battle of the boards 10-4.
It took until the 5:44 mark in the third quarter for Jaloni Cambridge to score the Buckeyes’ first field goal of the second half.
Cambridge and guard Chance Gray produced nearly all of Ohio State’s offense in the second half, combining for 27 of 32 points.
Guard Amaya Battle provided a valuable 7 points, three rebounds and two assists in the third quarter, boosting Minnesota to a 53-42 lead, but Golden Gophers center Sophie Hart had the biggest overall impact.
The Buckeyes failed to stop Hart down low, allowing her to finish with 18 points and combine for 22 rebounds with Battle.
Ohio State center Elsa Lemmila had 10 rebounds, though only one was grabbed on the offensive end.
In the first half, the Buckeyes held on to a slight lead, which never went above nine points because of Minnesota’s 27.5% shooting from the field. The Golden Gophers improved that percentage to 57.1% throughout the second half.
Ohio State will attempt to turn the tide in a home matchup against USC (16-9) on Feb. 22. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: No. 10 OSU women’s basketball loses at No. 23 Minnesota
Reporting by Brianna Mac Kay, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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