They say it’s hard to beat a team three times in one season. We say not if you are the better team, and that’s what we say on Friday. After a close, white-knuckle affair, the Ohio State women’s basketball team beat rival Michigan 81-79 to advance to the semifinals of the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament.
It’s the first time in program history that Ohio State has beaten Michigan three times in one season, and it sets up a semifinal matchup against No. 1 seed Indiana.
Buy Buckeyes TicketsOhio State had the lead for most of the game and went into halftime up by eight points. But Michigan would not go away, staying within arms reach all contest and eventually taking the lead in the fourth quarter before Ohio State was able to regain the lead very late, the big shot coming from Jacy Sheldon who made an appearance for the first time in a long while because of injury. She hit a 3-pointer to put OSU up by three with just 1:19 left in the game. That was followed by a Cotie McMahon bucket just seconds later for a five-point lead with under a minute left in the contest.
Michigan would scramble and find a way to cut it to two points with a chance to tie, but the Buckeyes had a great defensive possession on the Wolverines’ last attempt to lock it up and secure the win.
Final in the Big Ten quarterfinals‼️#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/0lDpQgJlMC
— Ohio State WBB (@OhioStateWBB) March 3, 2023
The star of the game was without a doubt Freshman Big Ten Player of the Year Cotie McMahon. She was aggressive and assertive, especially in transition and getting in the lane, finishing with a double-double with a game-high 28 points and 12 rebounds. Many of her baskets came at extremely crucial times.
Taylor Thierry (20 points) and Taylor Mikesell (16 points) also scored double figures for the Buckeyes who had to gut one out because of a defense that didn’t turn Michigan over as much as it had in the first two meetings.
The Buckeyes will next take on Indiana at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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