NCAA Tournament: Ohio State's turnovers the catalyst in elimination vs Tennessee
Another NCAA Tournament has been cut short for Ohio State on its own court in the second round.
The Buckeyes, a No. 4 seed out of the Birmingham 3 region, were knocked out of the tournament by fifth seeded Tennessee 82-57 on Sunday at Value City Arena. Unlike the second-round loss to Duke in the tournament last year, Ohio State had a chance to stay alive in the second half.
Down 54-37 in the third quarter, the Buckeyes built an 18-point comeback powered by the effort of freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge, who scored 9 of her 19 points in the 20-2 run that lasted more than four minutes.
Ohio State took a 57-56 lead with 2:48 remaining in the third, but the 23 turnovers the Buckeyes committed throughout the game became the catalyst in quickly losing the advantage.
The Lady Vols finished the quarter outscoring Ohio State 10-2, capitalizing on five Ohio State turnovers and two offensive rebounds.
"They sped us up," Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. "We didn't handle it very well. I thought we were in the right spots, but really not making good decisions when we had to go at a higher rate of speed."
Tennessee scored 37 points off turnovers and 21 off second chances.
According to Tennessee guard Jewel Spear, when Cambridge was hitting her stride, the game plan became to fill the gaps she was attacking while going to the basket and force the freshman to make a pass or mistake.
Cambridge had a game-high eight turnovers while being held to 2 points in the final 12 minutes.
Kevin McGuff opts to leave forward Ajae Petty on the bench in second half
With Tennessee's offensive rebounding, and overall size, proving to be another challenge for Ohio State, McGuff sat Ajae Petty for nearly the entire second half.
The fifth-year forward opened the game with 4 points in the paint, helping the Buckeyes take a 11-3 lead.
Despite Petty finishing the first half with 8 points and a team-leading six rebounds, she was taken out of the game with over seven minutes left in the third quarter and never returned.
"We were just going with the lineup that we thought was most efficient in taking care of the ball because we were turning it over so much," McGuff said. "And I think when Eboni (Walker) was in there, she was actually rebounding pretty well."
Petty had no turnovers in the first half.
Walker, whom McGuff opted to play 16 minutes in the second half, had four rebounds and no points. Walker also committed two turnovers.
Ohio State's 6-foot-6 center, Elsa Lemmila, was unable to continue in the game after leaving just before halftime with discomfort in her left foot. Lemmila was playing through a foot injury that sidelined her in the first round against Montana State.
The Buckeyes now go back to the drawing board for the 2025-26 season without four players who finished their last year of eligibility, including three-year starter Taylor Thierry.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State fails comeback vs Tennessee in NCAA Tournament elimination
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