Despite leading by 14 points after an impressive first quarter and eight points with just under two minutes left in overtime, No. 13 Ohio State (23-6, 12-5 Big Ten) lost to No. 8 Michigan (23-5, 14-3) 88-86 in its final regular season game at Value City Arena on Wednesday.
The Buckeyes appeared to be on the way to victory, leading by eight with two minutes left in the extra sessions, but were outscored 10-0 in the final 1:35 of the game.
Ohio State had a miraculous comeback in regulation to even force overtime. They came up with a key steal with two seconds left in the game and after being fouled in the act of shooting, Cambridge made all three free throws to tie the game.
The Buckeyes were simply not quite as efficient as the Wolverines in the half court. Ohio State shot just 30-75 from the field (40.0 percent) and allowed Michigan to have an efficient offensive performance. The Wolverines went 34-69 from the floor (49.3 percent), including 11-25 from three-point range.
Early on, Ohio State quickly took a 5-4 lead on an and-1 layup from senior guard Chance Gray. After Michigan made a layup on the next possession, Ohio State scored the next seven points to lead 12-6. The Buckeyes’ run was capped with a three-pointer jumper from freshman guard Bryn Martin.
Ohio State’s momentum was not stopped after a Michigan layup. Instead, Ohio State went on a 10-2 scoring run to grow its lead to 22-10. Martin ended the run with her third three-point jumper of the game.
Ohio State’s lead was 11 with 15 seconds left in the first quarter, but Gray extended the lead to 14 with a three-point jumper right before time expired.
The Buckeyes went 4-8 from beyond the arc in the first quarter.
The Wolverines had a response to start the second quarter. They opened the second quarter with a 13-2 scoring run to cut Ohio State’s lead to 30-27.
The Buckeyes missed four of their first five field goals to start the second quarter, while the Wolverines made six of their first seven from the field.
After a layup from redshirt junior guard Kennedy Cambridge, Michigan tied the game at 32, scoring five straight points. Both teams traded scores before sophomore point guard Jaloni Cambridge banked in a long triple to put Ohio State up 37-34.
Michigan regained the lead on a triple from guard Syla Swords, but Jaloni Cambridge answered with her own three-pointer right before the half to give Ohio State a 40-39 advantage at halftime.
After outsourcing Ohio State by 13 points in the second quarter, Michigan continued its momentum in the second half. The Wolverines held Ohio State to 1-11 shooting in the first 6:14 of the third quarter to lead 50-43.
Redshirt freshman forward Kylee Kitts helped Ohio State recover. She scored the first four points of a 6-0 spurt that cut Michigan’s lead to 50-49.
However, the Buckeyes couldn’t retake the lead. Instead, Michigan scored 11 points in the final 2:30 of the third quarter to lead 61-53 heading into the fourth quarter.
Ohio State cut Michigan’s lead to six points twice early in the fourth quarter, but after each Buckeye score Michigan drained a three-pointer.
The Buckeyes kept fighting and scored seven straight to shrink Michigan’s lead to 67-65 with 4:16 remaining.
Michigan made a key jumper on the next possession, but after that went scoreless for nearly three minutes. On the other end, Gray made a key and-1 layup and with 2:55 remaining, Kennedy Cambridge tied the game at 69 with a free throw.
Both teams failed to score on their next possessions, but Gray gave Ohio State a 71-69 lead, its first of the fourth quarter, with a layup at the 1:21 mark.
Michigan tied the game with free throws on the next possession, and Kennedy Cambridge missed an open three-pointer with 44 seconds left.
Ohio State played solid defense on the next possession, but right before the shot clock expired Swords drained a contested three-pointer from long range to give Michigan a 74-71 lead with 10 seconds remaining.
Gray had an open look to tie the game, but her three-pointer rattled out. Kennedy Cambridge grabbed the offensive rebound but missed a pair of free throws. That is when Ohio State came up with the crucial turnover and Jaloni Cambridge sprinted behind the arc before being fouled in the act of shooting.
It was a perfect start to overtime for Ohio State. The Buckeyes scored five straight on two-point makes from sophomore center Elsa Lemmilä and Gray and a free throw from Cambridge. Michigan made a free throw, but missed its first three field goals of the extra session to fall behind 81-75.
Michigan ultimately snapped its field goal drought with a three-pointer, but sophomore guard Ava Watson answered with her own three-pointer to keep Ohio State up 84-78. Gray made a layup to grow Ohio State’s lead to eight, but Michigan scored the next five to trail 86-83. Gray missed a shot on Ohio State’s next possession with 35 seconds left and Michigan tied the game with a three-pointer with 20 seconds later.
Martin was left open from three-point range with 11 seconds left, but she missed before Michigan came up with a key rebound.
Michigan sophomore guard Olivia Olson hit the game-winning mid-range layup with just three seconds left. After the final buzzer sounded, Gray drained a long three-pointer, but it didn’t count and Michigan won by two points.
It wasn’t her best performance of the season, but Jaloni Cmabridge led Ohio State with 22 points. She was held to just 6-20 shooting, but she also had a team-high nine assists.
Gray (19 points), Lemmilä (11 points), Kitts (11 points) were the only other players to reach double-figures.
Lemmilä grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. Michigan was led by sophomore guard Olivia Olson and Swords, who scored 31 and 22 points, respectively.
