Lemmilä Block Seals 87-84 Overtime Win Against Minnesota

Thursday, February 13

Columbus, Ohio

7:30 PM

Ohio State

21-3,10-3Big Ten

Minnesota

19-7,7-7Big Ten

OT 1

Minnesota

Ohio St.

Lemmilä Block Seals 87-84 Overtime Win Against Minnesota

2/13/2025 11:35:00 PM | General, Women's Basketball

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The Buckeyes held off a late push from the Gophers to earn their 10th conference win of the season.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 9/8 Ohio State women's basketball team (21-3, 10-3 B1G) prevailed against Minnesota (19-7, 7-7 B1G) by an 87-84 margin in overtime on Thursday night.

The Buckeyes shot better than 70 percent in the first quarter as they held a 21-17 lead after 10 minutes. The Gophers battled back to get within one during the second quarter, but Ohio State led by a 35-30 margin at halftime. OSU had the slight 19-16 advantage in a back-and-forth third quarter to take a 54-46 lead into the final frame. After Ohio State led by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter, Minnesota pushed back to force overtime as the game was tied at 74 at the end of regulation. Ohio State took control of the overtime period with back-to-back baskets and sealed the win with a block from Elsa Lemmilä.

Ava Watson was first in the game to double figures, doing so with 7:35 left in the second quarter and finishing with 16 points on 4-of-4 three-point shooting. Cotie McMahon (25), Jaloni Cambridge (10) and Taylor Thierry (10) joined Watson in double figures. J. Cambridge totaled a career-high six steals.

How it Happened
Cotie McMahon scored the first four points of the game before the Gophers scored the next five. McMahon responded on the ensuing possession and Chance Gray scored off back-to-back Minnesota turnovers to give the Buckeyes a 10-5 lead with 6:34 remaining in the quarter. Ohio State led by as many as seven at 16-9 before a 5-0 Minnesota run got the Gophers within two, 16-14, with 2:21 to play in the opening quarter. The Buckeyes scored the next five points and held a 21-17 lead after 10 minutes.

Minnesota scored first in the second quarter with a free throw before Watson scored the next eight points on the floor to extend OSU's lead to 29-18 with just under eight minutes to play in the second. The Gophers answered with a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to 29-24 with 5:41 remaining in the half. Another 6-0 Minnesota run had the visitors within one at 31-30. The Buckeyes scored the final four points to go into the locker room with a 35-30 lead.

The Gophers opened scoring in the third quarter before back-to-back Buckeye layups from McMahon and Ajae Petty. Jaloni Cambridge converted a three-point play to give Ohio State a 42-34 lead with 7:20 left in the third quarter. The Buckeyes led 44-38 midway through the third. Watson's fourth triple of the game capped a 6-0 OSU run that extended the lead to 48-38. The Buckeyes led by a 54-46 margin after 30 minutes of play.

Scoring alternated to begin the fourth quarter before a 7-0 Ohio State run extended the Buckeyes' lead to 65-53 with 6:43 to play. Back-to-back Buckeye baskets gave OSU a 71-57 lead midway through the quarter, forcing a Minnesota timeout. The Gophers strung together an extended 14-2 run to cut their deficit to 73-71 with 34 seconds remaining in regulation. Madison Greene ended a 10-0 Minnesota run at the free throw line. The Gophers tied the game at 74 with eight seconds to play and the game went to overtime.

McMahon opened scoring in overtime and the teams traded points until the score was tied at 80 with 1:47 remaining. Lemmilä and Thierry made back-to-back baskets to give the Buckeyes an 84-80 lead but Minnesota responded with a three-pointer. Lemmilä made a layup with 18 seconds left and OSU led by an 86-83 margin. Lemmilä blocked the game-tying shot attempt and the Buckeyes won by an 87-84 margin.

Highlights

Match Notes

This is the Buckeyes' first overtime game of the season.
This is the 17^th game of the season that the Buckeye defense has forced at least 20 turnovers as Minnesota committed 21 turnovers tonight.
This is the 19^th game of the season that Ohio State has finished with at least 10 steals, recording 13 steals tonight. This is the Buckeyes' eight consecutive game with 10 or more steals – a feat that was most recently accomplished during February and March 2001.
This is the 12^th game of the season that Ohio State has had at least four double-figure scorers.
Taylor Thierry moved into the top 10 in program history with 215 career steals.
Ava Watson's sixth double-figure game of the season was good for 16 points, including 4-of-4 shooting from behind the arc. She was the first in the game to reach double figures and did so with 7:35 left in the second quarter.
Cotie McMahon scored in double figures for the 18^th time this season, totaling 25 points tonight. This is her fifth game with 20 or more points. She tied her season-high six assists.
Jaloni Cambridge finished with 10 points, her 15^th game this season with 10 or more points. She added a career-high six steals.
Thierry scored in double figures for the 13^th time this season and finished with 10 points.
Q1: The Buckeyes shot 10-of-14 (.714) from the floor in the quarter and forced seven Minnesota turnovers.
H1: Ohio State's defense recorded five steals and forced 12 turnovers in the half.
Q3: The Buckeyes shot an even 50 percent from the field in the quarter.
Q4: Seven different Buckeyes scored in the quarter.
OT: The Buckeyes did not trail in overtime.

Up Next
Ohio State hosts Iowa on Monday at noon. The game will be broadcast on FOX and AM1460.

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