No. 1-Seed Ohio State Shocked in Big Ten Tournament With Opening Round Loss to Maryland
The Ohio State Buckeyes are out of the 2024 Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament.
The top-seeded Buckeyes were eliminated in their opening game on Friday, dropping an 82-61 affair to the Maryland Terrapins. This was the worst loss of the year for Ohio State, as they had not fallen by more than ten points in any of their four prior defeats.
Senior forward Rebeka Mikulasikova finished as the leading scorer for the Buckeyes with 16 points alongside five rebounds and a blocked shot. Sophomore forward Cotie McMahon, who had taken on a larger role as a leader following a great freshman season, dropped in just 12 points.
One of the biggest surprises of the game for the Buckeyes was their inaccuracy as a team. McMahon ended with a three-for-17 conversion rate (18 percent), which added in to the squad's total clip of 36 percent (23-for-64).
Ohio State buried just six of its 22 attempts from outside of the three-point arc against the Terrapins, which checks out to an abysmal 27 percent. The Buckeyes also hit just 64 percent from the free-throw line, and were out-rebounded 55-31 by Maryland.
Aside from their poor day shooting and rebounds, nothing stands out on the box score as a clear reason for the Buckeyes' loss. Ohio State had fewer turnovers than Maryland (15-13), had just one more personal foul (17-16) and four more blocked shots (eight to four).
Ohio State will be back in action following the conclusion of the annual event, looking to right the ship in the 2024 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.
