Cotie McMahon Leads Ohio State to Win Over Indiana
Ohio State picked up its second big conference win Sunday after another big third quarter on both ends of the floor in a 74-69, down-to-the-wire battle against No. 10 Indiana.
The Buckeyes and Hoosiers both started off slowly. After hitting a couple of 3s in the first, Ohio State cooled off before turning it on again in the last two minutes of the quarter.
Sophomore forward Cotie McMahon was all over the defensive glass in the first half and did a great job distributing the ball. McMahon really came alive in the second on back-to-back possessions, as she recorded a transition steal, pushed the ball ahead to senior guard Rikki Harris for a layup, stole the inbounds pass, and attacked the rack for an and-1 bucket.
The team has expressed its confidence in McMahon’s abilities beyond scoring in the last three games. Head coach Kevin McGuff said postgame vs. Wisconsin Thursday that McMahon has really honed in on her rebounding and has become a purer player all around.
“Her effort on the boards is terrific,” McGuff said.
Despite going up seven after the first quarter thanks to a stellar 4-7 shooting from downtown, the Buckeyes shot themselves in the foot in the second by giving up too many fouls in the paint. In addition, after a great first quarter in full-court press, the Buckeyes allowed the Hoosiers to get the ball to halfcourt and find a two-on-one in the paint, at which point the Buckeyes would more likely foul than anything.
Indiana led by five at the half thanks to some big-time post play from senior forward Mackenzie Holmes, a 2022-23 Associated Press First-Team All-American and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
However, if the last two games have revealed anything about the Buckeyes, it’s their resilience in close matches and confidence to bounce back. The Buckeyes were only up five against Wisconsin before blowing the game open in the third.
Sunday’s game was almost the same.
Despite being dominated on the glass the entire game, the Buckeyes did what they do best: convert stops into buckets. They led with 21-4 points off turnovers.
Ohio State limited the Hoosiers to just 10 points in the third thanks to their outstanding press which was not very effective in the first half. Indiana committed 11 turnovers and McMahon and graduate guard Jacy Sheldon each had eight points in the third to put the Buckeyes up eight heading to the final period.
The Buckeyes shut down Holmes in the second half, limiting her to just four points after scoring 10 in the first half. However, it was senior guard Sara Scalia, the Hoosiers’ second-leading scorer, who kept them in the game, finishing with 25.
But who else to take over in the fourth besides someone with so much experience in Sheldon? The Dublin, Ohio, native started off a perfect 3-3 in the quarter for seven points before finishing with 25 for the game.
McMahon finished with 20 of her own on 69 percent from the field to go along with seven rebounds and five assists.
One Buckeye who remained mostly quiet but who stepped up substantially on both ends was junior forward Taylor Thierry, who finished with 11, including going 2-2 from 3-point land, and played great on-ball and help defense.
Ohio State travels to Minneapolis Thursday to try to continue its nine-game win streak against Minnesota from Williams Arena at 9 p.m. streaming on Peacock.
