Buckeyes hang on to top Wolverines
NO. 7 OHIO STATE 97, MICHIGAN 93
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Shayla Cooper and her Ohio State teammates remember the loss in Michigan last season.
The seventh-ranked Buckeyes wouldn’t let it happen again, beating their rival 9793 on Thursday night.
“This is a tough place to play, and we know that, because they beat us here last year,” said Shayla Cooper, who finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds. “This was a tough game because they’ve got such a great offense, so we had to work hard to hold them off.”
Kelsey Mitchell led Ohio State with 27 points, but it was Cooper who finished the game off with 10 points in the fourth quarter.
“They stretched us out with a really small lineup in the fourth quarter, and Cooper starting diving to the basket,” said Michigan Coach Kim Barnes Arico. “We picked it up once, but we didn’t really adjust to it and it really hurt us.”
The Buckeyes (13-5, 6-1 Big Ten) got 15 points each from Ameryst Alson and Asia Doss.
“I thought we played really well on offense, but our defense left some things to be desired,” said Buckeyes Coach Kevin McGuff. “We just wanted to stay focused on offense, even when we weren’t getting stops.”
Katelynn Flaherty led Michigan (11-7, 3-4) with 22 points, the 12th consecutive game where she had scored at least 19. Hallie Thome added 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Michigan’s Kelsey Mitchell scored 14, including 12 in the first half.
“Katelynn and Hallie work so well together that we specifically tried to set up plays for them in the second half,” Barnes Arico said. “That got us going, but Ohio State always had an answer. That’s why they are a top-10 team.”
Ohio State threatened to blow the game open early, leading 31-17 after one quarter, but Michigan’s Kelsey Mitchell led a second-quarter rally that had the Wolverines back within 49-42 at the half. Both Mitchells led their team in scoring in the half — Ohio State’s with 20 and Michigan’s with 12.
“I was able to get a lot of good shots in the first half, but they stayed closer to me in the second half,” said Ohio State’s Kelsey Mitchell. “That meant one of my teammates had to be open, and it was usually Shayla.”
Flaherty’s five points in the first four minutes of the third quarter had Michigan within 58-53, but they couldn’t string together another stop to get back within one possession.
Doss and Cooper helped the Buckeyes move the lead back to 12, and it was 74-62 going into the fourth.
The Wolverines were within 89-84 with 90 seconds to play, and Ohio State’s Mitchell missed as the shot clock expired, but Doss grabbed a key offensive rebound. Ameryst Alson split two free throws and Siera Thompson hit two for Michigan to make it a four-point game with 33 seconds to go.
Michigan got as close as 93-90 when Alson missed two free throws, but Cooper clinched the game with four consecutive from the line.
“That’s my favorite shot in basketball,” Cooper said. “You are all by yourself and uncontested.”
In other games involving Top 25 women’s teams Thursday, Michaela Mabrey scored 20 points, hitting six three-pointers, to lead No. 3 Notre Dame to a 90-62 rout of Syracuse. Brianna Turner added 19 points, Arike Ogunbowale 14 and Madison Cable 13 as the Irish (18-1, 6-0 ACC) had a balanced offense for the second consecutive game. … Shakayla Thomas scored 20 points and Ivey Slaughter had 13 points with 10 rebounds to lead No. 14 Florida State to a 70-48 victory over Virginia. Kai James added 10 points, all in the first half when the Seminoles (15-4, 5-1 ACC) opened a 30-23 lead.
In games involving Top 25/SEC women’s teams, Alaina Coates scored 17 points and had 10 rebounds to lead No. 2 South Carolina to a 74-58 victory over Auburn. The Gamecocks (18-0, 6-0 SEC) weathered an early shooting drought and wound up with a lopsided victory after surviving a 59-58 scare against Texas A&M. … Shequila Joseph, A’Queen Hayes and Shandricka Sessom combined for 49 points to lead Mississippi by No. 9 Kentucky 73-65 in Oxford, Miss. Joseph led the Rebels (109, 2-4) with 21 points whle Hayes and Sessom added 14 apiece. Makayla Epps led Kentucky (14-3, 3-3) with 22 points. … Shacobia Barbee had 17 points and 11 rebounds to help Georgia upset No. 10 Mississippi State 47-43. … Chelsea Jennings scored 22 points — one of three Texas A&M players to score 20-plus — and the No. 13 Aggies held off No. 23 Missouri 81-77 in overtime. Courtney Walker and Jordan Jones each scored 20 points for Texas A&M (14-5, 4-2). … Te’a Cooper scored 13 points and sparked a critical third-quarter run to end her personal slump as No. 18 Tennessee defeated Vanderbilt 58-49 and continued its home domination of the series. Vanderbilt rallied from a 14-point deficit and only trailed 52-49 when it had the ball on two separate occasions in the final minute, but the Commodores turned the ball over both times. … Eleanna Christinaki scored 16 points to help No. 22 Florida over Alabama 80-72. Christinaki was 5 of 9 from the floor and 6 of 7 from the line for the Gators (16-3, 4-2).