The No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes led by double digits for the final 6:55 as a 14-0 fourth-quarter run from 8:38 to 6:20 broke a 65-65 tie and guided them to a 96-77 quality road victory over the No. 18 Louisville Cardinals in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge Wednesday night at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
The loss snapped the Cards’ 48-game non-conference home winning streak.
The Buckeyes, who received a game-high 26 points from Taylor Mikesell to remain unbeaten at 7-0 (0-0 Big Ten), trailed by as much as 14 and by 13 with 9:01 to go in the third quarter. But they would win the third 28-18 and the fourth 31-14. The 14-0 run featured a 5-0 individual run by Jacy Sheldon (22 points) and though the Cards cut it back to 10, Ohio State used an 11-0 run from 3:21 remaining to 1:52 remaining to gain its largest lead of 21.
With 8:40 left in the contest, Ohio State’s Rikki Harris got right up in Mykasa Robinson’s face after Robinson had blocked and grabbed a Madison Greene layup attempt, and Harris took the ball away from Robinson right at the baseline underneath the basket. Then, as she was falling out of bounds, Harris dished it back to Greene, who finished with a layup to kick off the 14-0 run.
Greene finished with 14 points, six assists and four steals. Her layup was followed by a 3-point play from Rebeka Mikulášiková (21 points, five rebounds, four assists). Sheldon then scored on a fast break layup and a step-back three before Harris (five points, 10 rebounds, six assists, two steals) made two free throws. After she missed the third of three free throw attempts, Harris closed the run with another steal under the basket turned assist to Mikesell.
An 11-0 run in the third was also key as it cut the Buckeyes’ deficit to two with 6:25 remaining before the fourth. From that point on, Ohio State’s largest deficit was four.
Mikesell (4-of-8 from three and 10-of-16 from the field) added two helpers while Sheldon (2-of-3 from three and 9-of-14 from the field) notched three steals and two blocks. Sheldon, who returned from a lower leg injury, has had at least three steals in each of her five appearances this season and is averaging 6.8 on the season. The Buckeyes’ turnovers forced per game average fell to a still-incredible 29 with 24 miscues caused on Wednesday, including eight committed by Louisville star Hailey Van Lith. Van Lith led the Cardinals with 20 points and 10 boards,…
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