Friday, the Ohio State women’s basketball team returned to Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse for its second game in as many days in the 2026 Big Ten Tournament. The stakes were the same — win or go home — but instead of entering the game as a heavy favorite as they did against Indiana on Thursday, head coach Kevin McGuff’s side entered as a slight underdog against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. When the two teams played on Feb. 18, the Gophers controlled their home court in a 74-61 win over the Buckeyes. This time, the Buckeye defense took control and forced 21 turnovers in a 60-55 victory.
First quarter
Ohio State, and everyone else who watched the two teams’ first meeting last month, knew that the Golden Gophers were going to try to push the ball inside the paint. Minnesota scored 18 points in the first quarter, and every single one came from inside the lane. It was not only center Sophie Hart, who contributed six, but the Golden Gophers also wanted to establish inside dominance from their entire lineup early. The strategy mostly worked, but the Buckeyes looked more composed defensively than they did three weeks ago, and therefore, Minnesota’s baskets were not nearly as easy.
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Friday was the first game of the season for the Buckeyes against a team that they had lost to earlier in the campaign, and outside of the paint, Ohio State seemed to have learned the lessons from the earlier loss, especially in their full-court press. At the end of the first quarter, the Buckeyes had forced five turnovers, more than half the total from last month’s meeting.
The Buckeyes combated the inside performance of the Gophers with some of their own, primarily on the strength of center Elsa Lemmilä. Ohio State’s 6-foot-6 big scored the first two buckets, each coming after a layup by Hart. Minnesota then went on a seven-point run until deeper shots began to fall for the Buckeyes. A trio of threes — by two from Chance Gray sandwiching one by Jaloni Cambridge — gave Ohio State its first lead of the game.
Second quarter
The second quarter began in a very similar way to the first, with a Lemmilä layup, but then the speed of Ohio State began ot change things. Six of the next eight points came on the fast break, with all six from Jaloni Cambridge, and a six-point run put the Buckeyes ahead by two possessions. By the five-minute mark of the second quarter, Ohio State had already forced nine turnovers, the same number forced as in Minnesota last month. By halftime, head coach Kevin McGuff’s side pushed it up to 11.
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While OSU was scoring in spurts, the battle on the glass heavily favored the Golden Gophers, who had a 2-to-1 margin with 24 boards compared to 12 for the Buckeyes. Fortunately for the Buckeyes, the extra possessions generated by steals were the difference in the first 20 minutes.
When the teams headed into the locker room, Ohio State held a slim four-point lead, even though Hart took a 10-point, 12-rebound, double-double into the break.
Third quarter
In the third quarter, Ohio State and Minnesota played to practically a stalemate. The Buckeyes increased their lead by one, but no team sustained momentum. In four game minutes, the sides traded six baskets to flip between a two-possession and three-possession lead by the Buckeyes.
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At the end of the period, the Golden Gophers had a six-point run to get the game to within two points, but three Buckeye points in the final 49 seconds gave the No. 5 seed the five-point lead with 10 minutes remaining.
Fourth quarter
The moment appeared to weigh heavily at the start of the final 10 minutes, because both teams looked rushed and anxious. Ohio State guard Ava Watson hit a three to start the scoring, but that took over two minutes. Minnesota did not get on the board until after three minutes thanks to a three-point shot by forward Grace Grocholski, who had 10 points in the second half up until that point of the game.
Ohio State made plays to limit the Gophers, like an emphatic block by center Elsa Lemmilä on a Minnesota fast break, but the offense for the Buckeyes was forced. With 5:36 remaining, the Buckeyes lead was down to three points, which prompted a timeout from McGuff.
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With 2:05 remaining, and the Gophers down four, Ohio State guard Kennedy Cambridge went to work when she poked the ball away on defense from behind, ran the court and threaded a pass to Chance Gray for a layup that put the Buckeyes up six points. Kennedy Cambridge tried to keep that momentum going when she leapt out of bounds to save a ball. The guard went to the ground and favored her right leg. It impacted the score too because without a fifth player, Mara Braun hit a wide open three-point shot to cut the deficit to a single shot. With one minute remaining Ohio State held a narrow 58-55 lead.
Kennedy Cambridge was not gone long, which is a trend for the redshirt junior when this happened earlier this season. On her return, Minnesota, with three fouls to give, opted to play defense with 39 seconds left. With 16 seconds left, Jaloni Cambridge hit a relatively easy layup around the Golden Gophers defense to make it a four-point game.
Minnesota, down four, took three shots to end the game and missed them all.
Number of the Game: 21
That is the number of turnovers forced by the Buckeyes. That total is the most given up by Minnesota this season, which eclipsed the 17 given away against the Maryland Terrapins, which happened over 50 minutes thanks to two overtime periods. Ohio State had 13 points off those turnovers, so it was not the most productive day with extra shots from changes in possession, but it meant less attempts for the Golden Gophers, which was ultimately their downfall, even though they shot more efficiently than the Buckeyes in the performance.
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Key performers
Ohio State
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Jaloni Cambridge: 17 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds
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Elsa Lemmilä: 17 points, 11 rebounds, 2 blocks
Minnesota
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Grace Grocholski: 18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
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Sophie Hart: 12 points, 18 rebounds
Up Next
The prize for winning the second game of the tournament is a matchup against the UCLA Bruins in the semifinals. UCLA entered the No. 1 seed and is 19-0 in Big Ten games this season after head coach Cori Close’s side defeated the Washington Huskies 78-60 in the quarterfinals.
Ohio State was one of those losses, back on Dec. 28 in an 82-75 defeat. These teams faced off last year in the 2025 Big Ten Tournament semifinals, and it was even worse with a 75-46 rout for the eventual tournament champions. The game tips off at 2 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.
