The Ohio State women’s basketball team is heading into the next round of the NCAA Tournament after disposing of the Montana State Fighting Bobcats on Friday evening with a rather easy 71-51 victory inside Value City Arena.
Things were tight through the first two quarters, with the two tied after the first quarter at 17 points a piece, and with Ohio State up just 32-27 at halftime. However, just before halftime, something inspiring must have happened because the Buckeyes went on a 24-0 run at the end of the 2nd period and into the 3rd stanza to take significant control of the game. OSU allowed Montana State to score just eight points in the third period and the there was little doubt about the outcome from there.
Things didn’t start out so well for the Lady Bucks. They had multiple turnovers and fell behind 10-6 to start the game before starting to find a rhythm. Still, the visitors from Big Sky country battled hard all the way through most of the first half before Ohio State turned the defense on and began to turn that into good opportunities on the other end.
The Buckeyes forced a whopping 26 turnovers (14 steals) and shot 50.9% from the field for the game, largely because of 32 points coming off of turnovers. And everyone got in on the act. All five OSU starters scored in double figures, paced by 16 points on 8-of-13 shooting by Taylor Thierry. Cotie McMahon (15), Chance Gray (15), Jaloni Cambridge (12), and Ajae Petty (11) all had solid days on the offensive end.
Ohio State will now face the winner of No. 5 seed Tennessee and No. 12 seed South Florida, also played at the Schottenstein Center. That contest will take place on Sunday. The time and network will be announced once the matchup is set.
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State women beat Montana State to move on in the NCAA Tournament
