Top-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes women fall to Maryland in Big Ten basketball quarterfinal
MINNEAPOLIS - After defeating Maryland on Feb. 25, Ohio State women's basketball coach Kevin McGuff made it clear that he knew that facing the Terrapins was no easy task.
"They are going to be a tough out in March," McGuff said following that regular-season matchup.
McGuff's statement proved to be true, as the No. 1 seed Ohio State was upset by No. 8 Maryland 82-61 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday.
Shyanne Sellers, daughter of former Ohio State men's standout Brad Sellers, led the Terrapins with 25 points. The junior from Aurora, Ohio, also had eight rebounds and seven assists. Brinae Alexander and Jakia Brown-Turner added 19 points each.
Rebeka Mikulasikova led Ohio State with 16 points. Taylor Thierry scored 13 and Cotie McMahon added 12. The Buckeyes were held to 35.9% field goal shooting and were 6 for 22 (27.3%) on 3-pointers.
Maryland dominated Ohio State on the boards 55 to 31. This marks the most rebounds the Buckeyes have given up this season, with the margin of 24 being the highest they've been outrebounded by as well.
"They were really prepared," McGuff said, "They played like a team that might have needed this to get in the (NCAA) tournament. We played like a team that showed up as the No. 1 seed and everybody was supposed to lie down and that's not what happened."
It seemed as though the Buckeyes couldn't buy themselves a basket in the opening minutes, missing their first four attempts from the field. Even when taking the first free throws of the game, McMahon went 0 for 2 from the line.
Maryland capitalized, taking a 4-0 lead until Mikulasikova broke Ohio State out of the slump with a 3-pointer over 2:30 into the game.
"They pressed a little and I think the idea was to slow us down," Ohio State's Jacy Sheldon said. "They played a great defensive game. We weren't ourselves today, we didn't make a lot of the shots we normally do."
What worked best for the Buckeyes in the first quarter was taking the ball directly to the basket. While going on an 8-0 run to take the lead for the first time at 11-8 more than halfway through the quarter, all Ohio State's points came off layups or free throws.
The Buckeyes shot 35.3% in the first quarter, but the Terrapins managed only 30%. Mikulasikova's two 3-pointers put OSU ahead 17-12 after the first.
The Terrapins came out in the second quarter looking reenergized, while Ohio State's struggles continued.
Able to get past the press, Maryland challenged Ohio State in the half court. Over the course of the season, one of the biggest areas of improvement in the Buckeyes' game has been half-court defense, but that wasn't on display before halftime.
"They wanted the game more and you got to really fight on defense," McGuff said. "You've got to get rebounds. We didn't fight and they did."
Hitting back-to-back 3-point baskets and a second-chance layup, Maryland regained the lead at 26-19 with 5:32 left in the half.
The momentum continued to build in favor of the Terrapins, even through the final seconds of the half, when Sellers scored a buzzer-beater to give Maryland a 38-30 lead.
The Terrapins outscored the Buckeyes 26-13 in the second quarter while shooting 62.5% from the field.
"I think for us, obviously we know Ohio State has a great press and they tend to get a lot of steals and momentum off their press," said Maryland's Faith Masonius. "So, I think for us it was just about, looking up, passing the ball, staying composed and seeing who was open."
The third quarter has been where Ohio State has performed its best this season, and has been, on multiple occasions, when the Buckeyes made comebacks. It looked like that could be the case Friday, as the Buckeyes came out of halftime and cut the Terrapins' lead to three within the first four minutes.
But the Terrapins capitalized on turnovers and rebounds to build the lead back to as many as 15 points with two minutes left in the quarter.
"It's really simple, you've got to hit them and grab the ball," McGuff said in regard to rebounding. "We looked like a volleyball team out there for half the game, just batting the ball around."
Visually upset with what he felt were missed calls in throughout the third quarter, McGuff seemed to reach his breaking point at the 1:58 mark following an Ohio State turnover. The Buckeyes' coach was charged with a technical foul after yelling at an official over a missed foul call.
"There was a whole lot I didn't agree with and a whole lot I don't understand," McGuff said. "But it didn't impact who won the game. Maryland deserved to win the game."
Sellers hit the two awarded free throws and a Thierry foul just over 10 seconds later put Sellers at the line again to put the Terrapins lead at 19 points with 1:44 left in the third.
McMahon scored 5 of her 12 points in the final minute of the third quarter to pull the game back within 11, 65-52. Overall, the sophomore had one of her worst shooting games of the season, going 3 for 17 (17.6%) from the field.
"She (Cotie) didn't have it today, it was kind of reflective of the whole group didn't have it today, and she was certainly part of it," McGuff said. "We were not the team we're capable of being without her playing at a high level.'
There was just nothing that Ohio State could do to catchup to Maryland by the fourth quarter, especially since the Buckeyes went 3 for 14 from the field, their worst shooting quarter of the entire game.
A long break awaits Ohio State, who will not play again until the NCAA Tournament, which is slated to start March 22.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Top-seeded Ohio State women fall to Maryland in Big Ten quarterfinal
