No. 14 Ohio State women defeat Penn State with three-point clinic, win 108-84

After a busy, successful week away from the Schottenstein Center for No. 14 Ohio State women’s basketball, the Buckeyes returned home on Wednesday night against Penn State. After an upset defeat to the Nittany Lions in State College, Pennsylvania nearly one year ago, 33 points from point guard Jaloni Cambridge extended Penn State’s Big Ten losing streak to 17 games with a 108-84 Scarlet and Gray victory.

First quarter

The Nittany Lions looked like a team without a conference win on the season for the first half of the first quarter of the game. Ohio State began the game with a 14-point run where the Buckeyes forced six turnovers. Center Elsa Lemmilä began the game with eight points after the visitors left the big open with extra passes for the Buckeyes on offense.

Eventually, the Nittany Lions adjusted and got into the game thanks to center Gracie Merkle. The 6-foot-6 big, who leads the nation with a 74.6% shooting percentage, scored eight of the last 11 Penn State points of the quarter. Thanks to a seven-point run, the Nittany Lions cut the 14-point lead down to five at the end of the first 10 minutes.

Point guard Jaloni Cambridge, who entered Wednesday off a pair of performances that earned her Big Ten, Naismith, and AP Player of the Week honors, went 3-of-5 from beyond the arc. That gave the guard her first game of the season with three made three-point shots.

Second quarter

After pummeling Ohio State inside the paint at the end of the first quarter, Penn State exposed the Buckeye perimeter defense. Guard Moriah Murray, who averaged 9.8 points and 2.7 made three-point shots per game, hit three in the second quarter alone to give the guard four in the first half. Those shots and a free throw gave Murray 13 points in the first two quarters, which tied her with teammate Kiyomi McMiller for a team high.

That shooting nullified a nine-point Ohio State run, where Jaloni Cambridge scored seven, and with 1:46 remaining, the Nittany Lions’ deficit sat at two points. The Buckeyes nearly gave up the lead for the first time in the game, but the home side responded when guard Chance Gray made a fast break layup and bench guards Bryn Martin and Ava Watson hit three-point baskets. Watson’s came just before the buzzer after Martin missed a deep attempt.

Ohio State went into the halftime locker room with an eight-point lead and areas of improvement for the second half. Penn State went 7-of-15 from beyond the arc in the first half and had 11 offensive rebounds, with three coming from Merkle, including on the lone shot she missed in the first half.

Third quarter

Pace began to get to the Nittany Lions in the second half, and it led to turnovers. Penn State gave the ball away nine times in the quarter, and the Buckeyes turned them into 13 points on the break. Merkle, who hurt Ohio State inside in the first half, had extra pressure from the Buckeyes, and the added running in the quarter noticeably slowed the Penn State big. Merkle only had one shot in the quarter for two points.

McMiller struggled in the third, but with fouls. The sophomore guard picked up four fouls in the quarter and ended up on the bench, but not for long. McMiller’s quarter was a microcosm of her overall game with 1-of-4 shooting, but the made shot was an impressively deep three-point shot.

Lemmilä excelled inside with five points, and Cambridge added another nine to her total and entered the fourth quarter with 29 points.

Fourth quarter

The Buckeyes entered the fourth quarter with a 19-point lead, but still had to hold off the Nittany Lions who, to their credit, kept fighting. Penn State scored nine of the first 11 points of the quarter and cut its deficit down to 12 points in less than three minutes, but Ohio State answered back quickly.

Guard Chance Gray hit a three-point shot with 4:42 remaining, which started a chain reaction of four total threes in under two minutes. Merkle hit a layup to stop a seven-point home team run, but the Buckeyes ended up scoring 16 of 18 to shoot the lead up to 26 points. Then bench forward Ella Hobbs got into the deep shooting game to add a fifth in the quarter.

Ohio State hit the most three-point shots in a game this season with 17, six more than the 11 the Buckeyes hit against the Maryland Terrapins on Sunday.

Number of the game: 31

When Ohio State performed well in Wednesday’s game, it was when the team made extra passes. The Buckeyes had 26 assists, and guard Kennedy Cambridge led the way with eight. Of those assists, eight came in the first half for the redshirt junior. At least seven Buckeyes had two assists or more.

Key performers

Ohio State

• Jaloni Cambridge: 33 points, 4-of-9 three-point shooting
• Elsa Lemmilä: 21 points, 10-of-12 shooting

Penn State

• Moriah Murray: 25 points, 24 points from three-point range
• Gracie Merkle: 21 points, 11 rebounds

Up Next

The Buckeyes take a quick break from Big Ten play when they travel to Newark, New Jersey, for The Coretta Scott King Classic. Ohio State tips off the doubleheader against the No. 10 TCU Horned Frogs, featuring All-American guard Olivia Miles. The Horned Frogs are 16-1 on the season, with their lone loss in Big 12 play in a trip to the University of Utah.

TCU and Ohio State have not played in their respective program histories.