No. 3 Ohio State Falls 83-73 to No. 6 Notre Dame In Second Round Of NCAA Tournament

Ohio State (27-8) had its season ended in the round of 32 for the third year in a row on Monday. The Buckeyes lost to Notre Dame (24-10) 83-73, after committing 21 turnovers and being outrebounded 36-31.

Sophomore point guard Jaloni Cambridge had an outstanding night in a losing effort. She scored 41 points, which tied a career-high, on 13-25 shooting, but the rest of the team combined to score just 32 points while shooting 11-27 from the floor.

The Buckeyes couldn’t have started better against Notre Dame. Sophomore point guard Jaloni Cambridge made her first three shots of the game to score seven points in the first two minutes and lead Ohio State to a 9-0 advantage.

The run prompted a timeout from Notre Dame, but the Buckeyes added to their lead again after a steal from sophomore center Elsa Lemmilä and a layup from Kennedy Cambridge. Eventually, the Fighting Irish settled in and went on an 8-2 scoring run to cut Ohio State’s lead to 13-8.

After senior guard Chance Gray made a pair of free throws, Notre Dame scored four straight to get within three of the lead. 

With just under two minutes to go in the first quarter, sophomore guard Ava Watson drained a triple to put Ohio State ahead 22-16, but Notre Dame closed the quarter with a pair of buckets to make it a 2-point game.

Ohio State scored first to start the second quarter, but Notre Dame scored eight straight to take its first lead of the game.

Jaloni Cambridge ended the run with a mid-range jumper, but Notre Dame went up by seven after senior guard T’yana Todd fouled Vanessa De Jesus on a three-point attempt. De Jesus made all three free throws.

Gray cut Notre Dame’s lead to 33-31 with an and-1 layup, however, the Fighting Irish scored the final six points of the half to take a 43-35 lead into the break.

The Fighting Irish struck first in the second half. De Jesus drained a three-pointer on her team’s first possession, and after Kennedy Cambridge made a pair of free throws, Notre Dame scored five straight points to lead 50-37. Ohio State finally seemed to flip the momentum of the game after a timeout. The Buckeyes held Notre Dame scoreless for nearly four minutes to go on a 10-0 run and make it 50-47.

After taking its own timeout, Notre Dame scored on two straight possessions to lead 54-47, but Jaloni Cambridge scored six straight to cut the Fighting Irish lead to 54-53.

The Buckeyes had multiple opportunities to take their first lead of the half, but they couldn’t convert and Notre Dame scored on back-to-back possessions to lead 58-53.

Jaloni Cambridge added a free throw before the end of the fourth quarter and Notre Dame led by four heading into the final quarter.

Notre Dame opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer and after Jaloni Cambridge made a mid-range jumper, De Jesus drained a triple to put Notre Dame up 64-56.

Ohio State then went on a long scoring drought and only got back on the board with a pair of free throws from Gray. The Fighting Irish still led 66-58 after Gray’s free throws and star guard Hannah Hidalgo drained a clutch triple with 4:35 remaining that made it 69-58.

For nearly three minutes, Ohio State only scored 1 point and Notre Dame took advantage by expanding its lead to 16 with 2:33 remaining.

The Buckeyes only got within 10 of Notre Dame’s lead before the end of the game, and failed to put much game pressure on the road team.

Cambridge’s 41 points were a game-high total. No other Buckeye reached double-figures, but Lemmilä led the way with 10 rebounds. Kennedy Cambridge had a game-high four assists.

Hidalgo led Notre Dame with 26 points and she also added a game-high 13 rebounds.