Rutgers Women's Basketball runs out of gas late at No. 19 Ohio State

For the second consecutive Sunday afternoon, Rutgers Women’s Basketball made its ranked opponent sweat a bit more than they’d like on their home floor.

But for the second straight weekend, the Scarlet Knights (8-7, 0-4) fell just short of an elusive Big Ten win.

In a game that was closer than the final score indicated, Rutgers fell to No. 19 Ohio State in Columbus 71-49, despite a strong effort in the first half to keep up with the fast-paced Buckeyes (13-2, 3-1). The host team just wore down the Scarlet Knights late in the game, and took full control in the fourth quarter with a 20-7 advantage.

Faith Blackstone and Imani Lester were the lone two Rutgers scorers in double-figures, with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Kaylah Ivey also added eight points and five assists with two three-pointers.

As a team, the Scarlet Knights finished the game shooting 39 percent from the floor, and 4-for-17 from the three-point line, along with 21 turnovers, though they did force 16 takeaways on the defensive side. They also fell behind 38-25 in the rebounding battle, including a 14-5 Ohio State advantage on the offensive glass. Both teams got into the paint plenty, as the Buckeyes scored 40 points in the paint, compared to 34 for Rutgers.

“I thought we played with a lot of toughness in that first quarter,” head coach Coquese Washington told WRSU Sports’ Will Carmenaty and Chase Jacoby following the game. “We executed pretty well on both ends of the floor. I thought our defense was pretty solid. So I was pretty pleased, the way that we started the game.”

Jaloni Cambridge led Ohio State with 18 points to go along with three rebounds, four assists, and two steals. She was one of three double-digit scorers for the Buckeyes as Chance Gray added 17 points, and Elsa Lemmila recorded a double-double with ten points and 11 rebounds.

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Defense travels

Rutgers was able to hang around for much of the game, particularly in the first half, on the back of a tremendous opening half on the defensive side.

Against one of the elite offenses in the Big Ten, the Scarlet Knights held Ohio State to a 36.7 percent mark from the floor (11-for-30), and ten turnovers, four shy of its season average. The Buckeyes were unable to fully take control in the opening half until late, as Rutgers’ defense forced the home team to speed up offensively and jumped the passing lanes.

The Scarlet Knights also switched around their defense, working in man and a matchup zone to further confuse Ohio State’s offense.

On the flip side, Rutgers had its fair share of issues on the offensive end as well. The Buckeyes boast one of the best defenses in the country at forcing turnovers, and they took full advantage in the opening half. They forced 13 Scarlet Knight turnovers of their own, converting them into 16 points, over half of their total points in the opening 20 minutes.

Ohio State eventually found its footing late in the second quarter with an 11-0 run to take a commanding lead, but Kaylah Ivey knocked down a three in the final seconds of the half to head into the locker room down by five at 31-26.

“I think we did a good job on the offensive glass,” said Washington. “Now we got to finish some of those. We didn’t get enough finishes with our offensive rebounds today. You know, I thought we did a good job defensively in terms of contesting and making Ohio State miss. They went through stretches where they got second- and third-chance opportunities, and those small stretches were the ones that kind of hurt us.”

Pulling away late

The Buckeyes simply wore down Rutgers as the game went on, anchored by a lightning-fast pace, and forcing turnovers to set up the transition opportunities.

Rutgers finished the game with 21 turnovers, including eight in the second half.

Ohio State started the quarter on fire, responding to an opening bucket by Blackstone with an 8-0 counterpunch run to retake a double-digit lead.

For the rest of the third quarter, the two teams mostly stayed even while trading baskets, as the Scarlet Knights kept within a reasonable distance but were never able to fully get back into the game. They closed the third quarter trailing 51-42.

But in the fourth quarter, Ohio State kept its foot on the gas. The Buckeyes rolled ahead with multiple big-time spurts, leading by as many as 24 points with runs of 10-2 to open the frame, and 10-1 later on to close out the game.

“We definitely knew that they were going to press,” Washington added. “It’s kind of the signature of Ohio State women’s basketball for the last few years. The thing about their press that makes it so tough is the athleticism and the quickness with which they can close off passing lanes, close off driving lanes, dribbling lanes. And so their speed and athleticism in the press was definitely a factor for us. We were prepared for it, but Jaloni Cambridge is one of those players that, you know, if you don’t have anybody on your roster like her, it makes it tough when you see her on gameday.”

Up next

Rutgers Women’s Basketball returns home later in the week to resume Big Ten play, once again facing a ranked opponent.

The Scarlet Knights host No. 7 Maryland on Thursday, January 8th, at Jersey Mike’s Arena. That game will tip off at 7 pm and will be streamed on Big Ten Plus.