No. 11 Ohio State’s (26-7) run in the Big Ten Tournament ended in the semifinals on Saturday, as it fell to the Big Ten’s most dominant team, UCLA (29-1) 72-62.
Going against the only Big Ten squad that hasn’t lost a conference game, Ohio State struggled mightily offensively. The Buckeyes finished the game shooting 21-57 (36.8 percent) from the floor and committed 15 turnovers.
The Buckeyes didn’t get the start they needed against the Bruins. Ohio State started the game 0-5 from the field, as UCLA scored the first eight points.
Senior guard Chance Gray broke Ohio State’s drought with a triple at the 6:03 mark, but UCLA scored on its next two trips down the court.
The Bruins extended their lead to 14-3 with 3:47 to go, but Ohio State ended the first quarter on a 7-0 run to get back in the game.
Redshirt freshman forward Kylee Kitts and Gray each made three-pointers on the run.
The Bruins seized the momentum again in the second quarter. After a layup by Jaloni Cambridge with 7:50 remaining in the second quarter, UCLA went on a 10-0 run to take a commanding 30-14 lead.
The Bruins capitalized on a Buckeye scoring drought that lasted nearly five minutes. Gray eventually got Ohio State back on the board with a layup with just under three minutes to go in the half, and less than a minute later, she made a three-pointer to cut UCLA’s lead to 30-19.
The deficit remained 11 at halftime, as UCLA missed its final seven field goals of the half.
The Buckeyes were much better offensively in the third quarter than they were in the first half. Ohio State made its first three field goals to start the second half, and Gray made three free throw attempts to cut the UCLA lead to 38-30.
The Buckeyes made their next three attempts from the field, but couldn’t get stops on the other end and only made it 45-38 after two more free throws from Gray.
Just when it seemed as though the Buckeyes had gotten back in the game, the Bruins ended the game on a 7-2 spurt to lead 52-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
Sophomore guard Ava Watson opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer to make it 52-43, UCLA.
The Bruins went back up by 12 after they made their own three-pointer on their first possession of the fourth quarter, but Ohio State scored four straight to get within eight of UCLA’s lead with just under seven minutes to play.
UCLA guard KiKi Rice responded with a three-pointer and center Lauren Betts made a layup to make it 62-49, but Ohio State responded with five straight points to trail 62-54 with just over five minutes remaining.
The Buckeyes had a chance to get within striking distance in the middle of the fourth quarter, but Gray had a three-pointer blocked, and the Bruins made a triple to lead by 11.
The Buckeyes got within seven points of UCLA’s lead with under a minute to go, but missed their final four shots from the field to lose by 10.
Gray had an outstanding performance in the losing effort. She scored 23 points on 6-11 shooting, including 4-7 from three-point range.
Jaloni Cambridge was unusually quiet in the loss. She went for 12 points on 4-14 shooting.
Sophomore center Elsa Lemmilä scored 10 points and had a team-high six assists. Redshirt junior guard Kennedy Cambridge had a team-high eight rebounds, as Ohio State and UCLA each had 34 rebounds.
UCLA was led by a balanced offensive approach with five players scoring in double-figures. Rice scored a team-high 17 points, while Betts wasn’t far behind her scoring pace with 14 points. Betts had a game-high nine rebounds.
