Buckeyes Battle but Fall to Top-Seeded Bruins in Big Ten Semifinals

Saturday, March 7

Indianapolis, Ind.

2:00 PM

Ohio State

26-7,13-5Big Ten

No. 2/2 UCLA (No. 1 seed)

30-1,18-0Big Ten

Ohio St.

UCLA

Buckeyes Battle but Fall to Top-Seeded Bruins in Big Ten Semifinals

3/7/2026 4:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

This was the Buckeyes’ fourth semifinals appearance in the last five seasons.

Photos | Tournament Central | Bracket

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The No. 11/11 ranked and No. 5 seeded Ohio State women's basketball team (26-7, 13-5 B1G) fell to No. 2/2 ranked and No. 1 seeded UCLA (30-1, 18-0 B1G) on Saturday in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals by a 72-62 margin.

UCLA started quickly but Ohio State battled back at the end of the first quarter to close the gap to 14-10 after 10 minutes. The Bruins extended their lead to 32-21 at halftime. The Buckeyes got as close as seven points in the third quarter but trailed 52-40 after 30 minutes. Ohio State had the 22-20 advantage in the final quarter.

Chance Gray was the only player to score in double figures in the first half as she had 11 at the break and finished with 23 total points. Jaloni Cambridge (12) and Elsa Lemmilä (10) also scored in double figures. Lemmilä also totaled a career-high six assists and Kennedy Cambridge tied her career-high eight rebounds.

Quarter-by-Quarter Recap

Q1: UCLA opened scoring with the first eight points before Chance Gray got Ohio State on the board with a three-pointer. The Bruins took an early 12-3 lead to prompt a Buckeyes timeout. UCLA led 14-3, but Ohio State scored the final seven points of the quarter to trim the deficit to 14-10 after 10 minutes of play.
Q2: The Bruins began the second quarter with back-to-back baskets and used a 10-0 run to stretch their lead to 30-14 with three minutes to play before halftime. The Buckeyes had the 7-2 advantage down the stretch to close the gap to 32-21 going into the locker room following a second-chance layup from Kylee Kitts.
Q3: Pace picked up to start the third quarter as the teams alternated scoring until Ohio State scored four points to trim the UCLA lead to 45-38 with 4:15 remaining in the quarter. The Bruins were the ones to close the quarter with a 7-2 run to lead by a 52-40 margin going into the final frame.
Q4: Ava Watson opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer and back-to-back Buckeye layups for Ohio State within eight, 57-49, with just under seven minutes remaining. Gray scored five unanswered points on the floor as the Buckeyes were behind 62-47 midway through the quarter. The Buckeyes continued to chip away and trailed 69-62 with 1:24 to play. Scoring was capped at 72-62.

Game Notes

This is Ohio State's fourth Big Ten Tournament semifinals appearance in the last five seasons.
This is the Buckeyes' 13^th game of the season against a ranked opponent and 10^th away from Columbus. This is Ohio State's seventh game against a top 10 opponent.
Chance Gray scored in double figures for the 26^th time this season with 11 points in the first half on her way to 23 points total. This is her sixth 20-point performance of the season.
Jaloni Cambridge has scored in double figures in all 33 games this season, finishing with 12 points today. Her 751 points this season ranks sixth in program history as she passed Katie Smith's 745 points during the 1995-96 season.
Elsa Lemmilä's 71 blocks this season ranks eighth in program history. She also recorded a career-high six assists and scored in double figures for the 15^th time this season (10 points).
Kennedy Cambridge tied her career-high eight rebounds.
Q1: The Buckeye defense held the Bruins scoreless for the final 3:46 of the quarter.
Q3: Ohio State shot 6-of-10 (.600) from the floor and made all seven free throw attempts during the quarter.
Q4: Ohio State had the scoring advantage in the quarter.

Up Next

The NCAA selection show will be broadcast on ESPN on Sunday, March 15 at 8 p.m. ET.

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