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Ohio State's women's basketball team could not match Tennessee's size, depth, aggression or 3-point shooting. That fairly summarizes what happened Sunday night, when the Buckeyes' season ended with an 82-67 loss to the Volunteers at Value City Arena. The third- or fourth-best team in the Big Ten was not a match the eighth-best team in the SEC. So it goes.
No. 5 seed Tennessee (24-9) moves on to the Sweet 16 in the Birmingham 3 Region of the NCAA Tournament.
The Vols will play the winner of Monday's game between No. 1 Texas and No. 8 Illinois.
No. 4 seed Ohio State (26-7) has a year to figure out how to make it out of the first weekend of the tournament. Last year, the Buckeyes had home-court advantage as a No. 2 seed and lost in the second round to No. 7 Duke by 12 points. Technically speaking, that was a bigger upset.
More Ohio State women's basketball: Ohio State women's basketball falls to Tennessee in March Madness, misses NCAA Sweet 16
Tennessee deserves full marks. The Vols won a war of attrition in a game that was destined to be frenetic. Which it was. The Vols pulled down 10 offensive rebounds, scored 21 second-chance points and racked up 37 points off of 23 Ohio State turnovers. First-year Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell substitutes in five-woman waves and, in a game that featured thrusting scoring runs for both sides, was better able to sustain momentum when it mattered.
The box score line for Tennessee's most dynamic player, redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper: 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists and seven (!) steals.
"When you look at the stats and you see 37 points off turnovers and 21 second-chance points, you're not giving yourself a chance to win," Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. "Credit to Tennessee. They played really well."
Tennessee no longer dominates the SEC, in part because everyone else in the league has caught up with the Vols. The SEC produced two No. 1 seeds (Texas and South Carolina) and two No. 3 seeds (LSU and Oklahoma) among the 10 teams it got into the tournament. The Big Ten got 12 teams into the tournament, including two No. 1 seeds (USC and UCLA), but it doesn't have near the top-to-bottom strength as the SEC.
What does that mean? Vegas oddsmakers put it this way: Tennessee, despite being a lower seed and playing on Ohio State's home floor, was a slight (1.5-point) favorite heading into the game.
The Buckeyes accomplished their first goal − they got the jump. They led 11-3 after a 9-0 spurt and stretched the lead to 16-5 midway through the first quarter. They handled Tennessee's press, did a good job on the boards and kept Cooper in check. For a while.
Ohio State and Tennessee are, stylistically, incredibly alike. They're athletic. They press more often than not, play hard-nosed man-to-man defense, generate turnovers and score in transition. Their numbers for turnovers forced and points off turnovers are virtually the same. Yet, there are some distinct differences between the teams, as well, particularly in the areas of rebounding (an Ohio State weakness) and 3-point shooting (Tennessee jacks up 12 more a game, on average).
You could feel how Tennessee's size, depth and 3-point-shooting volume began to wear on Ohio State. You could read it on the scoreboard. Tennessee had a 40-35 lead by halftime, at which point the Vols had made six 3s and had a big edge in rebounding. The trends continued early in the second half. Caldwell kept up with her "whole team substitutions" − like hockey line changes − and the Vols got rolling. They ripped off 14 points in a row to take a 54-37 lead a few minutes into the second half. The run was punctuated with a step-back, fadeaway, 3-point field goal by Samara Spencer.
"I thought this was the hardest we played all year, and we needed it," Caldwell said. "Hats off to the Ohio State fan base − it was loud in there for a period of time. I thought we did a good job playing through runs, which is something we talked about."
What happened next was one of those things that is magnified in March. What happened next generated a roar unlike few others the Ohio State women have ever heard. It was Madness.
Ohio State scored 16 points in a row − including 9 from freshman guard Jaloni Cambridge. Moments later, after a bucket by ever-cool Taylor Thierry, the Buckeyes took the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter. The roars in the building were presumably detectable if you were watching on TV, but if you were in the building ... man, it was something.
Caldwell kept sending five players over the boards. Tennessee steadied itself, reasserted control on the boards, took better care of the ball. A Ruby Whitehorn 3-pointer from the corner, just ahead of the shot-clock buzzer, gave the Vols a 10-point lead with 7:16 remaining, and it felt like a dagger. It probably was.
"I think as much as anything, we were mentally tired," McGuff said.
Cambridge finished with 19 points. Junior forward Cotie McMahon had 17 points and five rebounds.
McGuff, in his 12th year at Ohio State, has taken the Buckeyes to three Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight (in 2023). He described Sunday night's game as a microcosm of the Buckeyes' season, which had plenty of good stretches interspersed with stretches where momentum was lost, squandered or taken away. So it goes.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: It's an NCAA Sweet 16 for Tennessee Volunteers, not Ohio State
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No. 5 seed Tennessee (24-9) moves on to the Sweet 16 in the Birmingham 3 Region of the NCAA Tournament.
The Vols will play the winner of Monday's game between No. 1 Texas and No. 8 Illinois.
No. 4 seed Ohio State (26-7) has a year to figure out how to make it out of the first weekend of the tournament. Last year, the Buckeyes had home-court advantage as a No. 2 seed and lost in the second round to No. 7 Duke by 12 points. Technically speaking, that was a bigger upset.
More Ohio State women's basketball: Ohio State women's basketball falls to Tennessee in March Madness, misses NCAA Sweet 16
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Tennessee deserves full marks. The Vols won a war of attrition in a game that was destined to be frenetic. Which it was. The Vols pulled down 10 offensive rebounds, scored 21 second-chance points and racked up 37 points off of 23 Ohio State turnovers. First-year Tennessee coach Kim Caldwell substitutes in five-woman waves and, in a game that featured thrusting scoring runs for both sides, was better able to sustain momentum when it mattered.
The box score line for Tennessee's most dynamic player, redshirt sophomore guard Talaysia Cooper: 19 points, eight rebounds, five assists and seven (!) steals.
"When you look at the stats and you see 37 points off turnovers and 21 second-chance points, you're not giving yourself a chance to win," Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. "Credit to Tennessee. They played really well."
Tennessee no longer dominates the SEC, in part because everyone else in the league has caught up with the Vols. The SEC produced two No. 1 seeds (Texas and South Carolina) and two No. 3 seeds (LSU and Oklahoma) among the 10 teams it got into the tournament. The Big Ten got 12 teams into the tournament, including two No. 1 seeds (USC and UCLA), but it doesn't have near the top-to-bottom strength as the SEC.
What does that mean? Vegas oddsmakers put it this way: Tennessee, despite being a lower seed and playing on Ohio State's home floor, was a slight (1.5-point) favorite heading into the game.
The Buckeyes accomplished their first goal − they got the jump. They led 11-3 after a 9-0 spurt and stretched the lead to 16-5 midway through the first quarter. They handled Tennessee's press, did a good job on the boards and kept Cooper in check. For a while.
You must be registered for see images attach
Ohio State and Tennessee are, stylistically, incredibly alike. They're athletic. They press more often than not, play hard-nosed man-to-man defense, generate turnovers and score in transition. Their numbers for turnovers forced and points off turnovers are virtually the same. Yet, there are some distinct differences between the teams, as well, particularly in the areas of rebounding (an Ohio State weakness) and 3-point shooting (Tennessee jacks up 12 more a game, on average).
You could feel how Tennessee's size, depth and 3-point-shooting volume began to wear on Ohio State. You could read it on the scoreboard. Tennessee had a 40-35 lead by halftime, at which point the Vols had made six 3s and had a big edge in rebounding. The trends continued early in the second half. Caldwell kept up with her "whole team substitutions" − like hockey line changes − and the Vols got rolling. They ripped off 14 points in a row to take a 54-37 lead a few minutes into the second half. The run was punctuated with a step-back, fadeaway, 3-point field goal by Samara Spencer.
"I thought this was the hardest we played all year, and we needed it," Caldwell said. "Hats off to the Ohio State fan base − it was loud in there for a period of time. I thought we did a good job playing through runs, which is something we talked about."
What happened next was one of those things that is magnified in March. What happened next generated a roar unlike few others the Ohio State women have ever heard. It was Madness.
Ohio State scored 16 points in a row − including 9 from freshman guard Jaloni Cambridge. Moments later, after a bucket by ever-cool Taylor Thierry, the Buckeyes took the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter. The roars in the building were presumably detectable if you were watching on TV, but if you were in the building ... man, it was something.
You must be registered for see images attach
Caldwell kept sending five players over the boards. Tennessee steadied itself, reasserted control on the boards, took better care of the ball. A Ruby Whitehorn 3-pointer from the corner, just ahead of the shot-clock buzzer, gave the Vols a 10-point lead with 7:16 remaining, and it felt like a dagger. It probably was.
"I think as much as anything, we were mentally tired," McGuff said.
Cambridge finished with 19 points. Junior forward Cotie McMahon had 17 points and five rebounds.
McGuff, in his 12th year at Ohio State, has taken the Buckeyes to three Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight (in 2023). He described Sunday night's game as a microcosm of the Buckeyes' season, which had plenty of good stretches interspersed with stretches where momentum was lost, squandered or taken away. So it goes.
[email protected]
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: It's an NCAA Sweet 16 for Tennessee Volunteers, not Ohio State
Continue reading...
