Rutgers Loses To Ohio State 71-49 On Alumni Day
Rutgers was the perfect Big Ten Conference opponent for the Lady Buckeyes on Alumni Day. Rutgers is not a very good women’s basketball team. The Ohio State women’s basketball team won this game by the not very competitive score of 71-49. Rutgers led after the first quarter, but then the more talented Ohio State team pulled away.
The game against Rutgers was a feel-good game for the Ohio State women on Alumni Day. The game was basically as close to a guaranteed win for the Ohio State women as possible. That is how a team wants to schedule for their alumni coming back. This was a balanced effort from the Lady Buckeyes, with them pulling away in the end. The Ohio State Women are ranked No. 19. How far do you think they will go in the NCAA Tournament?
Rutgers Falls To Ohio State Women 71-49
The game the Ohio State women played against Rutgers on Jan. 4 was close at the beginning, but the Ohio State women pulled away. Ohio State improved to 13-2 overall, and they are now 3-1 in the Big Ten Conference. Rutgers fell to 8-9 overall. They are 0-4 in the Big Ten.
The Lady Scarlet Knights lead this game 20-17 after the first quarter. But the Ohio State women pulled away in this game. They led Rutgers 31-26 at halftime, 51-42 after the third quarter, and they won the game 71-49. That is correct, the Ohio State women allowed only seven points in the final stanza.
In the game, Chance Gray was the first Lady Buckeye to reach double figures in scoring. She finished the game against Rutgers with 17 points. Jaloni Cambridge led all scorers with 18 points. Elsa Lemmilรค added 10 points for the Ohio State women. She also grabbed 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Kennedy Cambridge got a career-high 7 assists and also had 8 rebounds.
In the first quarter, Rutgers opened scoring and surrendered it to Ohio State, who led at their high point 14-9. However, the Scarlet Knights scored the last eight points of the quarter to lead by a 17-14 margin. This was a little surprising because Ohio State was heavily favored in this game.
In the second quarter, Ohio State star Jaloni Cambridge tied the game twice. She first did it on the quarter’s first possession with a three-pointer. That tied the game at seventeen. She did it again by tying the game at 20 with six minutes to play in the half. The Lady Buckeyes used an 11-0 run during the late second quarter. They led Rutgers 31-26 at halftime.
In the third quarter, it started to get worse for the Lady Scarlet Knights. Gray scored the Buckeyes’ first six points of the quarter, en route to an 8-0 Buckeye run until there was 7:14 to play in the quarter. The Ohio State lead swelled to as many as 13 points at 49-36 after a free throw from Jaloni Cambridge before back-to-back baskets by Rutgers.
It got much worse for the Lady Scarlet Knights in the fourth quarter as they scored only seven points. Ohio State began the quarter on a 10-2 run to increase its lead to 61-44 with 5:36 to play. Jaloni Cambridge scored seven unanswered points to extend the lead to 68-46 with just under four minutes to play. Scoring was capped with Rutgers’ layup as Ohio State earned the 71-49 win.
News and Notes
- The double-double for Lemmilรค was her first of the season. Her 11 rebounds were also the high for the game.
- Jaloni Cambridge again led all scorers with 18 points.
- Kennedy Cambridge, Jaloni’s sister, had only 9 points, but almost had a triple-double with 8 rebounds and a career-high 7 assists.
- The entire Ohio State starting lineup almost scored in double figures. Cambridge had 9 points, and Kylee Kitts had 8. Rutgers had just two ladies score in double figures.
Parting Thoughts
This ended up being the perfect Alumni Day game for the Ohio State women’s basketball team. After a slow start, they were trailing after the first quarter, but the Lady Buckeyes pulled away for a 71-49 victory. The Ohio State women play next on Wednesday at Illinois. Illinois is also 13-2 overall and is 3-1 in the Big Ten Conference.
