Jaloni Cambridge Scores 21 As No. 3 Ohio State Defeats No. 14 Howard 75-54 In First Round Of NCAA Tournament

Behind a standout performance from sophomore point guard Jaloni Cambridge, who scored a game-high 21 points, No. 3 Ohio State (27-7) dominated No. 14 Howard (26-8) 75-54 on Saturday to advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Coming off a two-week layoff in between games, the Buckeyes weren’t very sharp in the opening minutes.

The Buckeyes had two turnovers in the first two minutes of the game to fall behind 4-3. Junior guard Kennedy Cambridge scored the next five points of the game to put Ohio State ahead 8-4, but the Bison responded scoring six straight to lead 10-8.

Howard’s lead remained at 2 until the end of the first quarter. It was then that senior guard Chance Gray knocked down a pair of three-pointers to lead Ohio State on an 8-1 run to end the first quarter.

Ohio State continued its momentum in the second quarter. The Buckeyes scored 10 straight to lead 30-15. Four different Buckeyes scored on the run, but sophomore point guard Jaloni Cambridge led the way with four points.

Howard momentarily stopped the bleeding with a pair of free throws with just over five minutes remaining before halftime, but redshirt freshman forward Kylee Kitts drained a three-pointer on Ohio State’s next possession.

Kitts started what would be a 13-0 run that put the Buckeyes up 43-17. Howard scored with 36 seconds left in the half, but that only cut Ohio State’s lead to 43-19.

The Buckeyes outscored the Bison 23-4 in the second quarter.

Howard was much improved to start the third quarter. The Bison scored eight points in the first four minutes of the third quarter to make it 48-27, but sophomore guard Ava Watson drained a three-pointer to add to Ohio State’s cushion.

A questionable foul was called on Kylee Kitts, and Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff was issued a technical foul for voicing his displeasure.

The Bison made just one of four free throws, after the technical and Jaloni Cambridge grew Ohio State’s lead to 54-28 with an and-1 layup.

Ohio State’s lead reached 30 points after a three-pointer from freshman guard Bryn Martin and a free throw from T’yana Todd.

The Bison scored the last four points of the third quarter to make it 62-36 heading into the fourth quarter.

Watson made a triple to open the fourth quarter, but Howard scored six in a row to cut Ohio State’s lead to 23.

Still, the Buckeyes’ lead was safe. Ohio State shot 2-5 from the field in the final 4:30 of the game to comfortably win by 21.

Jaloni Cambridge was the Buckeyes’ leading-scorer and went 9-14 from the floor, but Gray (11 points), Kennedy Cambridge (11 points) and Ava Watson (11 points) also reached double-figures.

Sophomore center Elsa Lemmilä led the Buckeyes with 11 rebounds and Kennedy Cambridge had a game-high four assists.

The Buckeyes had a fairly efficient shooting day. Ohio State went 27-60 (45.0 percent) from the floor as a team, including 9-24 from three-point range (37.5 percent) in the win.

Howard, which out rebounded Ohio State 38-33, was led by senior forward Zennia Thomas, who scored 15 points.