ShareTweetThe 6th ranked Ohio State women’s basketball team certainly didn’t take things easy to start the season, opening on the road at 2nd ranked South Carolina. The Gamecocks advanced to the Final Four last season and came up just short of making the national championship game. Both teams returned a lot from last season with South Carolina returning 4 of their 5 starters while OSU returned all 5 starters; the Buckeyes also return several players who were lost to injury last year. South Carolina jumped out to an early lead, scoring the first 5 points of the game before Ohio State came right back to tie the game a minute and a half into the first quarter. Things fell apart for the Buckeyes though as turnovers and missed shots allowed the Gamecocks to score 12 straight to go up 17-5 with just under six minutes to go in the first quarter. OSU finally got their offense going but they struggled to stop South Carolina as the two teams traded baskets for the next few minutes before an Ameryst Alston three pointer triggered an 8 to 2 Buckeye run that trimmed the Gamecock lead to 28-23 with a minute and a half remaining in the quarter. South Carolina made a pair of free throws but another Alston three pointer made it a four point game, 30-26, at the end of the first. After the scoring filled first quarter, both teams struggled to start the second but Ohio State pulled to within two, 32-30, three minutes into the quarter. The Buckeyes suffered a major blow then as Kelsey Mitchell picked up her second foul a few seconds later; Coach McGuff chose to leave Mitchell on the court as the sophomore’s scoring is too important to OSU to have her on the bench. After a Gamecock free throw, the Buckeyes would pull within one but South Carolina responded quickly, scoring six straight to go up 39-32 with three and half to go in the quarter. Kelsey Mitchell ended the run by nailing a deep three to pull the Buckeyes back within four. The two teams would go back and forth for the rest of the half before Alston hit a three pointer in the closing seconds to put OSU up 47-45 at intermission. Ohio State carried the momentum into the begging of the third quarter where Kelsey Mitchell made back-to-back baskets to extend the Buckeye lead to 51-45. The teams would trade baskets and OSU led by three with just under three minutes to go in the quarter before South Carolina scored six straight to retake the lead, 62-59. A three pointer by Alston tied the game but the Gamecocks hit the final basket of the quarter to take a 64-62 lead into the final ten minutes…
Continue Reading: WBB: Ohio State Comes Up Short At #2 South Carolina
