Women’s Basketball: Ohio State upset by No. 7 seed Duke in second round of the NCAA Tournament behind career game from Richardson

Eric Vah
Sun, 24 Mar 2024 22:04:58 +0000
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The No. 7 seeded Duke Blue Devils inbound the ball to Reagan Richardson (24) against the No. 2 seeded Ohio State Buckeyes at Value City Arena Sunday afternoon. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor

March Madness held true to its name Sunday afternoon at Value City Arena at the Schottenstein Center.?

Despite a slow start, Duke rallied to upset Ohio State on its home court thanks in large part to a 9-0 run to close out the first half and a career game from Blue Devils’ junior guard Reigan Richardson.?

The two-seeded Ohio State women’s basketball team (26-6, 16-2 Big Ten) fell to 7-seeded Duke (22-11, 11-7 ACC) 75-63 in the Round of 32 behind a 28-point performance from Richardson, which tied her career-high she racked in its season opener versus Richmond on Nov. 6, 2023.?

The loss to Duke was only the second home loss for the Buckeyes this season, with the first loss being to then-No. 2 UCLA 77-71 on Dec. 18, 2023.?

Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said Duke’s adjustments midway through the game were crucial in its win.?

“As the game wore on, we really got out of sync on offense and Duke was playing really good defense, so they had a hand in that. Then we really broke down with our rebounding,” McGuff said. “So I think our offensive execution, our rebounding, were the keys today in us not being able to win.”?

Ohio State started the game fast and built up a 30-14 lead halfway through the second quarter. However, it was the next five minutes that defined the outcome of the game.?

Duke sophomore guard Ashlon Jackson made the first three of the game for either team at the 4:56 mark of the second, cutting its deficit to 30-17. Jackson finished with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the floor.?

Richardson started to take over the game as she made her first three to cut the Buckeyes’ lead down to 10 with 4:07 to go in the second. Richardson shot 11-of-18 from the field and was a perfect 3-for-3 from distance.?

Both teams then traded baskets as graduate guard Jacy Sheldon and sophomore forward Cotie McMahon made a couple of layups for Ohio State, while Richardson buried her second straight three and Jackson made an and-1 layup to cut the lead to 36-26.?

Sheldon, who played in her final game for the Buckeyes, finished with 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting, while McMahon had a monster game with a team-high 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting.?

McMahon said the Blue Devils’ intensity on defense helped disrupt Ohio State’s rhythm offensively.?

“I feel like we didn’t have many ways we were able to score today,” McMahon said. “Like [McGuff] said, we were getting the looks, we just weren’t connecting them. So I feel like it hurt us not having our three-point shooters.”?

A miscue from graduate guard Celeste Taylor off the inbounds pass led to an easy layup for Blue Devils senior center Kennedy Brown as they cut their deficit to only eight with 1:48 left in the first half.?

Taylor, who was also playing in her final game for Ohio State, finished with six points and four steals against her former team before fouling out midway through the fourth. Brown scored nine points and five rebounds for Duke.?

The Blue Devils continued to ride their momentum into halftime as Richardson made a pull-up jumper with 31 seconds left. All of a sudden, Duke was on a 9-0 run and trailed only by four at halftime, 36-32.?

The third quarter was extremely competitive, with both teams trading baskets left and right. After Richardson stole the ball from Sheldon, she got fouled by Taylor and knocked down two free throws to cut the Buckeyes’ lead to only one, 44-43, with 5:07 left in the third.?

However, McMahon continued her huge afternoon with an and-1 layup off a spin as Ohio State went back up three at the 4:42 mark in the quarter.?

McGuff said Duke was chasing Ohio State off the three-point line, which was a big part of why McMahon had several excellent looks in the paint.?

“I think that was part of their strategy, to chase us off the three-point line, and it worked for a while in terms of us attacking and getting to the free-throw line, but like everything on offense, we just didn’t sustain it for four quarters,” McGuff said.?

Duke refused to go away, as Richardson tied the game at 47 with a driving layup. Then on the next possession, the Blue Devils took their first lead of the game at 49-47 off a layup from freshman forward Delaney Thomas with 1:26 left in the third. Duke remained in control for the rest of the game.?

The first five minutes of the fourth were electric, with both teams making critical baskets and making the hustle plays by drawing charges and going after every 50/50 ball. But the biggest play was once again from Richardson, as she made a go-ahead triple with 5:21 remaining to give the Blue Devils a 59-57 lead.?

However, Richardson was not done. She nailed back-to-back jumpers as Duke built up a 63-57 lead with 3:43 remaining.?

Junior guard/forward Taylor Thierry cut into the Duke lead with a layup with just over three minutes left in the game, but Richardson continued to dominate on the other end as she made a layup with 1:49 left to extend the lead to 66-59.?

Blue Devils sophomore guard Taina Mair buried two clutch free throws with 1:03 remaining to extend their lead to 68-59. Mair scored 11 points including four free throws late in the fourth quarter to help hold off Ohio State.?

Sheldon made the only triple of the game for the Buckeyes with 14 seconds left to cut the Duke lead to 10, but it was too little too late as the Blue Devils sealed the game at the line with two free throws from Jackson, which punctuated the upset of Ohio State.?

Sheldon said she wants to leave a legacy behind as someone who put Ohio State on her back and represented the university well.?

“It’s a pleasure. All of us had the pleasure of playing here,” Sheldon said. “So I think just representing it right and always giving it our all every game, which we do and they’re going to continue to do, that’s what we do here at Ohio State.”?