After forcing Minnesota (22-8, 13-6 Big Ten) into a season-high 21 turnovers, No. 11 Ohio State (26-6, 14-5 Big Ten) picked up an 60-55 win in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday.
The Buckeyes didn’t have their best shooting performance in the win. They made just 26-64 from the floor (40.6 percent), but attempted 10 more shots than Minnesota because of the tenacious defensive effort.
Ohio State started slow in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. After both teams traded a pair of scores for a 4-4 tie, Minnesota scored seven straight points after holding the Buckeyes scoreless for over two minutes.
Senior guard Chance Gray snapped the scoring drought with a three-pointer, and after the Golden Gophers split a pair of free throws, the Buckeyes made back-to-back triples to take a 13-12 lead, their first of the game.
Minnesota made a pair of baskets, but sophomore center Elsa Lemmilä made an and-1 layup to tie the game at 16.
The Golden Gophers ended the quarter with a layup to lead 18-16.
The Buckeyes didn’t take the lead in the second quarter until they held Minnesota scoreless for 2:19 to go on a 6-0 run, which made it 26-22.
Minnesota made it a two-point game after a turnover from junior guard Kennedy Cambridge, but sophomore guard Jaloni Cambridge made two straight fast-break layups to put Ohio State ahead 32-26.
The Buckeyes went scoreless in the final 1:36 of the first half, and Minnesota ended the half with a mid-range jumper.
Minnesota scored first in the third quarter, but Ohio State scored five straight on a three-pointer from sophomore guard Ava Watson and a layup from Lemmilä to lead by seven.
The Buckeyes lead bounced from 5 to seven for a few minutes, before Gray made a triple with 2:44 left in the third quarter to put Ohio State ahead 44-36.
The Buckeyes had a chance to stretch their lead beyond double-digits after forcing a Minnesota miss, but they couldn’t convert and Minnesota knocked down back-to-back three-pointers to make it 44-42.
The Buckeyes answered the Golden Gophers spurt at the end of the third quarter when Kennedy Cambridge split a pair of free throws and Watson made a mid-range jumper.
The late scores by Kennedy Cambridge and Watson made it 47-42 heading into the fourth quarter.
Both teams started the fourth quarter slowly on offense. Neither team made a field goal for the first two minutes, but Watson got the Buckeyes on the board with a triple with 7:48 remaining.
Less than a minute later, Minnesota responded with another three-pointer to cut Ohio State’s lead to 50-45.
Minnesota cut Ohio State’s lead to three points on free throws from center Sophie Hart, but Lemmilä converted a pair of baskets to make it 56-49 with 4:11 left.
Minnesota scored the next three points as Ohio State went into a mini scoring-drought, but Gray made a contested layup with just over two minutes remaining to put the Buckeyes up 58-52.
After Ohio State couldn’t score in transition, Minnesota cut the lead in half with a triple with 1:32 remaining.
Minnesota had a chance to tie the game after getting a stop on the next trip down the court, but guard Grace Grocholoski missed a triple with just over 40 seconds left.
The Buckeyes collected the rebound and Cambride converted a layup to give her team the winning margin with 16 seconds left.
Ohio State was led by Jaloni Cambridge and Lemmilä in the win. Cambridge scored 17 points, but wasn’t very efficient, making just 8-20 attempts from the field, including 1-7 attempts from three-point range. Gray (13 points) also reached double-figures.
Cambridge had a team-high six assists, while Lemmilä led the Buckeyes with 11 rebounds. Minnesota outrebounded Ohio State 44-27.
The Golden Gophers were led by Grocholoski. She scored 18 points on 8-14 shooting. Hart collected a game-high 19 rebounds.
