The matchup between the 6th seeded Ohio State Buckeyes and the 11th Seeded Minnesota Golden Gophers was a tale of wire-to-wire dominance. Ohio State led all but 15 seconds of the game with a lead as large as 21 points during the game. With four players in double digits, the Buckeyes ran away with a 77-56 victory over the Golden Gophers.
In the first half Ohio State jumped out to a 23-6 lead in the first scoring points off of their strong defensive effort along with quick transition points. Minnesota struggled to find an offensive rhythm against the Buckeyes. The Golden Gophers shot 25% from the field in the first and dug themselves into a hole.
Quarters two and three saw Minnesota attempt to cut into a large lead that was narrowed to 6 at both the end of both periods. The Golden Gophers 50 present shooting in both periods attributed to the run. It seemed as if Minnesota was poised to make a run at a comeback victory going into the fourth.
In the fourth, the wheels came off for Minnesota while Ohio State finished the game on a 23-7 run to advance to the quarterfinal of the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament. Minnesota coach Lindsay Whalen tried to dissect what happened in the two definitive quarters post game:
“Yeah, yeah. It was — yeah, I felt really good going into half, and then we struggled in the third to score, but our defense was great, and then the end of the third we started to feel really good on offense, and we go in having tied that third, only down six again in the fourth, and it just — yeah, then unfortunately the fourth, the floodgates opened a little bit.”
Next up for the Buckeyes is a matchup against the 3rd seeded Iowa Hawkeyes Friday night in Bankers Life Fieldhouse for a chance to advance to the tourney’s semifinal game.
