Ohio State Dominates Western Michigan 95-47 Backed By Five Double-Digit Scorers 

Fueled by five Buckeyes in double-figures, including a season-high 15 points from sophomore center Elsa Lemmilä, Ohio State (11-1, 1-0 Big Ten) boat-raced Western Michigan (3-7) 95-47 Monday at Value City Arena. 

Ohio State came flying out of the gates as sophomore point guard Jaloni Cambridge opened the game with a deep two-pointer, before redshirt freshman forward Kylee Kitts nailed a jumper to give the Buckeyes an early 4-0 lead that they would never relinquish. 

After Western Michigan senior forward Ariana Wilkes made a layup for the Broncos’ first points of the night, junior guard Chance Gray nailed a triple to extend Ohio State’s lead to five. 

The trio of Cambridge, Kitts and Gray combined for 22 of the Buckeyes’ 28 first quarter points as Ohio State led Western Michigan 28-15 after the first break. Junior guard Kennedy Cambridge had two steals in the period, while Lemmilä added two blocks. 

Kennedy Cambridge began the second quarter with a midrange jumpshot, before Western Michigan senior guard Alli Carlson drilled a three to cut the Ohio State’s lead back to 12. Carlson began the contest 4-of-4 from deep for the Broncos, scoring 12 of Western Michigan’s first 18 points. 

Following Carlson’s three-pointer, Ohio State reeled off a 13-0 run capped off by a layup from Lemmilä to push its lead to 25. The Buckeyes then ended the first half with a 10-5 run, as Lemmilä sealed Ohio State’s 53-25 halftime advantage with a late free throw. 

Ohio State was dominant all-around in the opening half, as the Buckeyes shot an impressive 66.7 percent from the field, while holding Western Michigan to just 27 percent. Ohio State also managed a strong 15-2 assist-to-turnover ratio as a team. 

Back-to-back layups by Western Michigan sophomore forward D’Myjah Bolds and Wilkes bookended two Kennedy Cambridge free throws, as the Broncos kicked off the second half with a short 4-2 run. 

Though that would be the extent of the Broncos’ success early in the third quarter. The Buckeyes quickly battled back with an 18-0 run of their own over the next six minutes to grow the difference to 44 with 2:55 remaining in the period. 

Sophomore guard Alli Harness ended the run with a three-pointer with just under two minutes remaining in the third quarter. Ohio State and Western Michigan traded the next two layups before Buckeyes sophomore guard Ava Watson hit a long two-pointer with just over a second remaining to increase the lead to 77-34 at the end of the frame. 

After three dominant quarters by Ohio State, Western Michigan found its groove offensively in the final quarter, though it was too late.

The Broncos and Buckeyes each scored 11 points in a stretch of just over six minutes in the fourth quarter, but the surge came too late, as Ohio State had already built a 43-point lead with just under four minutes remaining.

Ohio State closed out Western Michigan on a 7-2 run in the final 2:30 of the fourth quarter to claim a 95-47 victory. 

Jaloni Cambridge and Kitts were Ohio State’s second-leading scorers with 14 points apiece. Kitts earned a team-high nine rebounds for the Buckeyes, while Jaloni Cambridge and Watson each dished out six assists. 

Carlson led Western Michigan with 15 points, while four other Broncos totaled eight points on the night.