COLUMBUS, Ohio – At Value City Arena the Ohio State Buckeyes honored its five seniors as well as breast cancer survivors and fighters in its annual Pink Game, as they cruised past the Purdue Boilermakers for a big 73-60 victory in front of a large home crowd.
Ohio State started strong on a big 13-2 run until things settled down for the Boilers who fought and clawed their way to come within 3 as they entered halftime 33-30.But the Buckeyes shot 53 percent in the second half behind some excellent teamwork and tough defense. Senior Kelsey Mitchell made four threes, pulled down a season-high eight rebounds and scored a game-high 26 points. Redshirt senior Stephanie Mavunga notched her 14th double-double of the year with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
Sierra Calhoun finished with nine points and seven boards and Linnae Harper chipped-in win with eight points, five rebounds and a couple of assists. Asia Doss, the senior from Detroit, Michigan, finished the game with 6 points, 3 assist, and 2 steals.
Three Boilermakers scored in double-figures led by Karissa McLaughlin with 17 points who played all 40 minutes of the entire game.
With the win, the Buckeyes have won six-straight against Big Ten foes and are now 22-6 overall and 11-3 in the conference. The day was made even sweeter as Maryland fell for its second-straight time this week and Ohio State is now in a tie for the league lead with the Terrapins.
This was Mitchell’s 102nd game of her career with 20 or more points and she was named Big Ten player of the week for the fourth time in her outstanding career.
Game notes:
OSU outscored Purdue 18-4 in points off turnovers
This was just the fourth time this season Ohio State has held an opponent under 20 points in each of the four quarter
The Buckeyes have now held six-straight Big Ten opponents to under 70 points, the longest such streak under McGuff
The 60 points were the fewest allowed by Ohio State in a conference game this season
The Buckeyes are now tied for the lead in the Big Ten at 11-3
The Buckeyes five seniors will play their final game at Value City Arena on Wednesday when Ohio State hosts Northwestern. Tip-off time is 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed on BTN2Go. They will play their final game of the regular season at Penn State Sunday then it will be tournament time.
Stephanie Mavunga gets tough underneath
