Ohio State Defeats UConn, Advances to First Elite Eight in 30 Years
The dance rolls on for the Ohio State buckeyes as a 73-61 victory over the UConn Huskies on Saturday punched their ticket to the program's first Elite Eight berth since 1993.
The Buckeyes overcame an eight-point deficit in the first quarter to finish the opening half on top of the Huskies by ten, 36-26. Ohio State would either score more or just as many points as UConn in each of the game's last three frames, winning 21-9 in the second, 19-17 in the fourth and tying 18-18 in the third.
Additionally, the Buckeyes scored the first 11 points of the second quarter and held at least a nine-point advantage for the last 4:31 of the game.
Three Ohio State players finished with points in the double figures: freshman forward Cotie McMahon with a team-high 23, senior guard Jacy Sheldon with 17 and sophomore forward Taylor Thierry with 11.
McMahon's scoring was only two points shy of being the most in the game, which instead went to UConn senior forward Lou Lopez Senechal with 25.
The Buckeyes held their former teammate, senior forward Dorka Juhasz, to 13 points and 0-for-2 from three-point range. Both of those figures are below her season averages of 14.2 points per game and 28.9% from beyond the arc.
The Buckeyes had 23 turnovers in the game compared to UConn's 14, but got the better of the Huskies with 32 points in the paint against their opponent's 28, scoring nine second-chance points while allowing seven and finishing fast breaks for 14 points alongside UConn's five.
Ohio State's record in the NCAA Tournament now stands at 31-26, and the victory also broke UConn's record of 16-straight Elite Eight trips and 14 consecutive Final Four appearances in the Division I postseason.
The Buckeyes remain in Seattle as they wait to take on the tournament's No. 1 seed, the Virginia Tech Hokies, on Monday at 9 p.m. eastern. The game will air on ESPN and once again locally on 97.1 The Fan.
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