COLUMBUS, Ohio – Saturday night at Value City Arena the Ohio State Buckeyes women’s basketball team ended a 3 game skid and did it in front of a large home crowd against Michigan State, winning 78-62.
And to make a big victory even better was the record-setting performance of Buckeye senior Kelsey Mitchell. Mitchell came into the game just 18 points shy of Minnesota Gopher Rachel Banham’s all-time Big Ten scoring record of 3,093 points. Once she picked-up her fourth foul with 2:03 left in the third quarter, Mitchell had 15 points and it looked as if the record might hold for another game. But she hit back-to-back threes in a 17-second spurt to not only eclipse the mark but help the Buckeyes shove the lead out to 20 points with just over two minutes remaining. Mitchell finished with a game-high 23 points and also had four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. She now has 3,098 career points which is seventh all-time in NCAA history.
Mitchell, from Cincinnati, Ohio has had an outstanding season and career. The former Ms. Ohio basketball and division 1 high school player of the year has been an academic scholar athlete throughout her time at Ohio State. She also has earned many big honors including, First-team All-Big Ten (2015, 2016, 2017), B1G Player of the Year (2015, 2017), USBWA and ESPNW National Freshman of the Year (2015), Unanimous B1G Freshman of the Year (2015), First Team All-American, AP (2015, 2017) and has been a Naismith Award Semifinalist (2015, 2017), and Finalist (2016).
Mitchell’s sister Chelsea is a redshirt junior playing alongside her sister, while her father Mark is an assistant coach with the team.