Led by sophomore point guard Jaloni Cambridge, who scored a game-high 33 points, Ohio State (8-1) bounced back from a poor first half to defeat Northern Kentucky (3-9) 94-62. Overall, it wasn’t a great shooting night for the Buckeyes, which made just 4-23 three-point shots (17.4 percent) in the game, but they made up for it on the defensive end. Ohio State had 27 total steals in the game, breaking a program record of 25 previously set in a 99-43 win over McNeese State in 2022.
The Buckeyes found themselves in a huge hole early against the Norse. Failing to play with its usual high level of defensive intensity, Ohio State allowed Northern Kentucky to make eight of its first 12 shots to take a 19-7 lead at the first media timeout.
The Buckeyes played much better after the media timeout and scored the next eight points to cut Northern Kentucky’s lead to four.
The Norse snapped Ohio State’s 8-0 scoring run with a three-point jumper, but Ohio State scored the last five points of the quarter to make the score 22-20 heading into the second quarter.
The Buckeyes got out to a cold shooting start in the second quarter and missed their first nine field-goal attempts, but played well enough defensively to hang around with the Norse.
Eventually, Ohio State took its first lead of the game at the 5:11 mark when Jaloni Cambridge knocked down a pair of free throws. Ohio State’s lead grew to three less than two minutes later after sophomore center Elsa Lemmilä made a jumper. However, Northern Kentucky responded with a 15-5 run to jump in front 43-46.
Cambridge made a layup right before halftime, but the Buckeyes still trailed by five as both teams headed into the locker room.
After Northern Kentucky made a couple of free throws to open the third quarter, Ohio State flipped the momentum of the game. The Buckeyes went on a 16-0 scoring run to take a 54-45 lead. Northern Kentucky’s Mia Jordan ended her team’s drought with a layup at the 6:09, before sophomore guard Ava Watson hit the team’s second three-pointer of the game on the next possession.
After her three-pointer, Watson helped Ohio State extend its lead to 16 by scoring four more points.
Ohio State punctuated its win with a dominant fourth quarter. The Buckeyes used a 16-0 run over the middle of the quarter to a 90-57 lead. That dominant stretch gave head coach Kevin McGuff a chance to play his younger players, who helped solidify the 32-point win.
In addition to leading the team in points, Cambridge also grabbed six rebounds, the most on the team. Watson (13 points) and redshirt freshman forward Kylee Kitts also reached double-figures with 11 points. Junior guard Kennedy Cambridge only scored 6 points in Ohio State’s win, but she also had game-high totals of 10 steals and five assists. Kennedy Cambridge’s 10 steals were also a career-high.
Ohio State 33-76 from the field (43.4 percent) and held Northern Kentucky to 22-49 shooting (44.9 percent) and 7-23 from three-point range (30.4 percent).
Northern Kentucky was led by freshman guard Karina Bystry. She scored 21 points and shot 7-8 from the field.
