COLUMBUS, Ohio—The No. 8/9 Ohio State Buckeyes showed why they are the winningest women's basketball program in the Big Ten on Wednesday. The Idaho Vandals got a front-row seat to the Buckeyes' 1,000 program victory, falling 99-56 in Columbus.
How it Happened
Play in the early minutes of the first quarter was fairly even.
Allison Kirby gave Idaho its first lead, going up 4-2 inside the first two minutes of the contest. Asia Doss hit a 3 for the Buckeyes to put OSU back up, 5-4. Idaho fired back with a 3 from
Taylor Pierce to take back the lead, 7-5, with 8:12 to go in the quarter.
From that point forward it was all Ohio State. The Buckeyes went on an 18-0 run, gaining a 23-7 lead with two minutes to play in the first. Idaho closed the game to 23-11 to end the quarter thanks to a late 3 from Pierce. The Buckeyes scored 12 points in the paint and totaled six points off Idaho turnovers in the run. The Vandals got good open looks but were 0-for-9 shooting during the span.
Ohio State (2-1) outscored Idaho 26-13 in the second quarter and led 49-24 at halftime. Stephanie Mavunga and Linnae Harper both had double-doubles at the break. Mavunga had 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Harper added 10 points and 13 rebounds. The Buckeyes out-rebounded Idaho 34-17 in the first 20 minutes.
Idaho (1-1) had its best shooting performance in the third quarter. The Vandals hit 53.8% from the field, but it was not enough to dent the Buckeye advantage. OSU hit five 3's in the quarter to outscore Idaho 30-18.
Ohio State did not see its lead dip below 35 in the fourth quarter. Five Buckeyes scored in double figures. Harper led the way with her 18 points and 12 rebounds. Mavunga added 17 points and 14 rebounds. Kelsey Mitchell closed with 16. Sierra Calhoun and Caretti Jensen finished with 15 and 14, respectively.
Mikayla Ferenz led Idaho with 17 points. She hit 1,000 career points in the second quarter.
Geraldine McCorkell fouled out with 14 points.
Turning Point
Idaho's 0-for-9 streak in the first quarter set the mood for the remainder of the night. All nine attempts came from behind the three-point line. Ohio State was giving Idaho the open looks, the Vandals just could not capitalize. The Vandals got cold from long-range a game after shooting 18 3's at Colorado State.
Quotes
Overall thoughts
"We were getting wide open looks. If you told me we were going to get those kinds of looks with the way we have been shooting in practice and at Colorado State, I'd take it all day long. We had fantastic looks. We just couldn't knock it down. I was disappointed with the panic from our younger guys. I felt like they were just overwhelmed by the stage. But it is a great learning lesson for them. I told them by March and we get into this environment again I think it will be a different story."
On postgame message
"This is why we schedule games like this. We want to get in these big arenas. We want to play against top-10, top 20 teams and know what it is going to be like come March. That is where our program is at. We want to be able to compete with these teams. I am disappointed in the fact that we did not handle their pressure better."
Notes
Idaho has now hit a 3-pointer in 270 straight games…Pierce's three 3's give her 192 for her career (5th school-history)…Ferenz now has 177 career 3's (6th school-history)…Wednesday's 43-point loss is the largest since last season's 105-53 loss at Washington…OSU's 99 points scored was the most since UW's 105…Idaho's 56 points were the least amount scored since the same loss to Washington.
Upcoming
Idaho continues on the road, making a trip down south Texas on Saturday. Idaho will take on Abilene Christian on Saturday. Tip is scheduled for 12 p.m. PT.
