In No. 12 Ohio State’s matchup against No. 8 Maryland, there was a point where the Buckeyes looked to be heading toward back-to-back losses. Jaloni and Kennedy Cambridge changed that.
The sisters combined for 32 points in a 74-66 win on Thursday at Value City Arena. Jaloni Cambridge led the team with 20 and Kennedy Cambridge added 12. They also grabbed 13 of the Buckeyes’ 34 rebounds.
“They play really well together,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. “They’re different players, Jaloni impacted us with more points, but Kennedy had just amazing hustle and toughness plays that were really impactful.”
The Buckeyes were coming off their first loss of the season, a disappointing 62-59 defeat at the hands of host Penn State. Jaloni Cambridge was unavailable for that game due to an illness.
So it had to be especially dispiriting for the Buckeyes that they were down as many as 15 points in the first half against Maryland and went into halftime behind 34-27. Ohio State was also outrebounded 30-17.
“They were just out-toughing us down there, frankly with rebounding,” Jaloni Cambridge said. “And that’s just really what it was.”
But a 30-point performance in the third quarter put Ohio State in the driver’s seat.
After multiple attempts to chip into Maryland’s lead, the Buckeyes finally went on a 15-0 run starting at the 5:27 mark in the third.
Ohio State junior Cotie McMahon scored 4 during the run, and she finished the game with 14 points.
The Buckeyes officially took the lead for the first time with 3:05 left in the third. Kennedy Cambridge hit a 3-pointer from the corner to put the Buckeyes ahead 51-50.
“It’s inevitable, good teams go on runs,” she said. “We’re going to go on runs, it’s going to happen. So, it’s a matter of having faith in your teammates, having faith in your coaching staff and having faith in the work that you put in all year, to get back into the game.”
Jaloni Cambridge finished the third quarter with three rebounds, which allowed the Buckeyes to outrebound Maryland 8-7 in the third quarter. Despite being their shortest active player at 5 foot 7, Jaloni Cambridge finished with a team-leading 8 boards. (Teammate Kaia Henderson is 5-6 but is redshirting this season.)
The Buckeyes have a history of struggling on the glass against Maryland. Last season, Maryland knocked the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals 82-61, when Ohio State was outrebounded 55-31. And overall, Maryland still won the battle on the boards Thursday 48-34.
Regardless, Ohio State improved to 18-1 and will face Nebraska on the road this Sunday at 3 p.m.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State vs. Maryland: Buckeyes bounce back from loss vs. Terrapins
