COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State University women’s basketball team (4-1) defeated Old Dominion University (2-2) 75-60in front of 5,335 fans at the Value City Arena on Friday night. ODU’s standout junior, Shae Kelley tied her career high in points and led all scorers with 21, as well as came up just one rebound shy of her career high with 16. This was game one of three in consecutive days for both squads, as part of the first ever James Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Challenge.
Ohio State was led by Ameryst Alston, who poured in 19 points, three assists and two steals in 38 minutes of work. The Buckeyes also had Raven Ferguson (14 points) and Darryce Moore (11 points, 10 rebounds) in double figures.
For the game OSU shot a blistering 49% (25-51) from the field; ODU connected on 37% (21-57) of their field goal attempts. The Lady Monarchs were able to force 17 turnovers, but gave possession away 24 times of their own Friday night.
Also scoring in double figures for Old Dominion was senior co-captain Stephanie Gardner who dialed in 17 points on 6-12 shooting and connected on 3-4 from three-point land. Galaisha Goodhope scored 11 points and added four steals.
The Buckeyes outscored the Lady Monarchs in the paint (36-22) and also got more point production from their bench (29-9) in the contest.
Ohio State started the second half capturing their largest lead of the ballgame to that point (40-26), before Stephanie Gardner knocked down a mid-range jumper for Old Dominion’s first bucket of the half. On ODU’s next trip down the court, Kelley scored the old fashion three point play to cut into the Buckeye’s lead, 40-31.
OSU then went on a 9-2 run before Old Dominion head coach Karen Barefoot called a timeout to settle her troops down. The Buckeyes would extend their lead to 23 points (largest of the game) at the 10-minute mark before the Lady Monarchs would cut the lead to 14 (58-44), making Ohio State call a timeout of their own with 8:18 on the clock.
The Lady Monarchs wouldn’t go away behind two consecutive and-one’s by co-captain, Kelley. Gardner followed an OSU layup with her third three pointer of the game, cutting Ohio State’s lead to 13 with 4:38 left to play. It was then that LaQuanda Younger drilled a deep three point attempt to allow ODU to only trail by 10.
Old Dominion would get as close as nine, before the Buckeyes would go onto defeat the Lady Monarchs by fifteen.
This was the first time in school history that the Buckeyes have taken down Old Dominion. The last time these two teams met was at the NCAA Tournament in 1985, with ODU winning, 72-68. ODU now leads the all-time series over the Ohio State, 3-1.
FIRST HALF
After going back and forth start to the game, Ohio State was able to create a little separation from the Lady Monarchs after going on 16-4 run from the 11:33 to the 7:19 mark in the first half. The Buckeyes would take a 36-26 halftime lead with them into the locker room.
At the half, Ohio State shot a remarkable 48% from the field, compared to Old Dominion’s 36%. The Lady Monarchs were only able to hit one of their eight three-point attempts, while OSU connected on two of their four three point field goals.
Shae Kelley would lead all scorers with 10 points and all rebounders after hauling down 7 boards. OSU’s Ameryst Alston led the Buckeyes in the first 20 minutes of play after scoring nine points.
The Buckeyes bench outscored ODU’s 15-5. OSU outscored Old Dominion in the paint, 20-10. The first half saw two ties and two lead changes.
NEXT UP FOR THE LADY MONARCHS
The Lady Monarchs stretch of three games in three days continues tomorrow when they will square off against Bowling Green at 6:00 p.m. EST. (PLEASE NOTE: This is a time change from the original release of scheduled game times. Due to Ohio State’s home football game, ODU’s game against Bowling Green will take place 30 minutes later than originally scheduled.) Finally, ODU will close out the road trip with Marist on Sunday with tip-off slated for 1 p.m.
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Ohio State Puts ODU Away Late in 75-60 Victory
