Duke basketball upsets Ohio State in March Madness, advances to NCAA Tournament Sweet 16
Brianna Mac Kay
There was a point in Ohio State's second-round matchup against Duke when the No. 2-seeded Buckeyes held a 16-point lead. It would not be enough to avoid a season-ending upset at Value City Arena on Sunday.
Led by the efforts of Reigan Richardson, who recorded a career-high 28 points and seven rebounds, No. 7 seed Duke pulled off a 75-63 upset to advance to the Sweet 16.
Richardson's impact on the game is impossible to overlook, especially after going on her own 10-2 run to put the game virtually out of reach, but there were many self-inflected issues from the Buckeyes that hurt them just as badly.
Outrebounded 38-20 by Duke, Ohio State's 3-point shooting was completely shut down, going 1 for 11 from the 3-point line. The Blue Devils were 5 for 13 on 3-pointers.
Foul trouble also hurt Ohio State in its time in need. Already struggling to find an answer for Richardson, the Buckeyes played a majority of the fourth quarter without the co-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Celeste Taylor after she fouled out with over six minutes left in the game.
Cotie McMahon tried to power Ohio State to victory, scoring 27 points, but the effort with barley any support from her teammates, would mute any meaningful impact from the sophomore's performance.
In her final game with the Buckeyes, Jacy Sheldon scored 13 points. She and McMahon were the only Ohio State players to score in double figures. Taylor and Rebeka Mikulasikova were next with 6 points each. The Buckeyes shot just 40.7% (22 or 54) from the field while Duke was shot 51.1% (23 for 45).
Duke's Ashlon Jackson scored 13 points and Taina Mair added 10. The Blue Devils will play either No. 3 seed Connecticut or No. 6 Syracuse on Saturday.
McMahon brought the intensity early in the game, powering her way to the basket and was awarded an "and-one" call in the first possession of the game.
The Blue Devils responded with a layup of their own from Oluchi Okananwa just 10 seconds later, but that would account for half of Duke's made field goals in the first quarter.
A fast-paced game from the jump, the tempo of the opening minutes played in favor of the Buckeyes despite the fact both teams are known for having high-speed offenses.
Ohio State's defense was able to rattle the Blue Devils throughout early in the game. The Buckeyes' press gave them an edge, and they kept Duke from scoring a field goal from for over eight minutes to end the first quarter in taking a 20-10 lead.
Duke recorded 6 of its 10 first-quarter points off free throws and turned the ball over five times, in part due to Taylor's three steals.
The momentum stayed in favor of Ohio State during the first half of the second quarter, as the Buckeyes built a 16-point lead with 5:07 left before halftime.
Following the media timeout at the 4:23 mark, the Blue Devils started to heat up.
Behind the strong second-quarter performances from Richardson and Jackson, the Blue Devils started to cut Ohio State's lead. Following a 12-2 Duke run in the final three minutes of the half, the Buckeyes held a slight 36-32 advantage at half.
McMahon seemed to be thriving off the physical matchup, recording a majority of her points while taking the ball to the basket and drawing contact.
But the physicality would also hurt the Buckeyes, who ran into trouble when Taylor was charged with her fourth foul with 3:50 left in the third quarter.
With one of Ohio State's top defenders on the bench, the Blue Devils were able to tie the game with Richardson layup, and then take a 49-47 lead off a wide-open Delaney Thomas layup.
It looked like Duke would be going into the fourth quarter with a three-point lead after a fastbreak basket from Camilla Emsbo, but the Blue Devils' fouled Rikki Harris at halfcourt in the final second, allowing her to cut the lead to 51-50.
Despite multiple occasions where Ohio State took the lead in the fourth quarter, the Buckeyes never capitalized and were instead knocked out of the tournament on their home court.