East Lansing, MI. – The Ohio State Women’s basketball team entered the Breslin Center Thursday night in East Lansing on a roll and looking for their third victory in a row. After playing 3 games in 6 days the Buckeyes were picking up momentum. But it was not to be as the Spartans scored the last 5 points in the waning seconds of the game for a 68-65 victory and came away with their 10th win of the season.
The Buckeyes started strong as Aaliyah Patty got them on the board right away with a deep 3 but the resilient Spartans kept finding a way to claw back into the game. Throughout the game, there were 9 ties and 10 lead changes. The Buckeyes took 31-26 lead into the half and were led by Freshman guard Jacy Sheldon who was a perfect 3 for 3 on 3 point shots.
But in the third, the Spartans took control limiting the Buckeyes in field goals and forcing turnovers and outscored the Buckeyes 22-13 for 48-44 lead going into the final quarter of play.
But the always resilient Buckeyes battled back led by Freshman Forward Rebeka Mikulasikova, who made big plays driving strong to the basket and also hit a deep 3 for the Buckeyes. The young Slovakian finished the game with 11 points.
In the closing seconds with the Buckeyes leading and a chance to seal the victory a rash of fouls were called and the Spartans took advantage to put the game away in their favor.
Patty led all Buckeyes with 12 points while Sheldon had 11, and Madison Greene also finished in double figures with 10. Dorka Juhasz, the sophomore sensation from Hungary, led the Buckeyes with 10 rebounds, followed by Patty with 9, and freshman Kierstan Bell with 5. Bell also finished with a team-leading 6 assist. Nia Clouden led all scorers and her Spartans with 20 points on the night.
The loss drops the Buckeyes to 10-7 overall on the season, 3-3 in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes will look to make it 3 home victories in a row Sunday as they host Illinois at 2 p.m.
