Since then, Ohio State has broken into the AP top 10 and was the ninth-ranked team when the women’s basketball committee released its mid-season top 16 on Saturday — a height many did not expect for a Buckeyes squad that entered the season unranked.
On Sunday, though, it was Maryland that returned the favor, upsetting Ohio State 76-75 after rallying from a 19-point first-half deficit for a resume-building win of its own.
That first loss to Ohio State, on Jan. 11, began a rough stretch for the Terrapins, who lost four of their next five games. They have turned things around since with four straight wins after Sunday’s takedown of the Buckeyes, including a pair of road victories over ranked teams.
Maryland got a strong game from leading scorer Oluchi Okananwa and Yarden Garzon, who each had 17 points, but it was the defensive effort in the second half that sparked the Brenda Frese-led Terrapins’ comeback from 19 points down in the first half.
For Maryland, which was a No. 4 seed in the committee’s mid-season reveal, the win provides a massive boost to its NCAA Tournament resume, with Purdue, Northwestern and a regular-season finale against No. 7 Michigan still left on the schedule.
This also increases the logjam in the Big Ten. Although UCLA is cruising with a 24-1 record, Michigan, Maryland, Ohio State, Michigan State and Iowa are all ranked in the top 20 and fighting to earn hosting rights in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
The Buckeyes now have four losses, all against ranked teams, and face a difficult stretch to end the season that includes games at Michigan State and at home against Michigan. They must find a way to make up for their rebounding difficulties after getting out-rebounded 47-34 by Maryland, and find scoring from someone other than star guard Jaloni Cambridge, especially down the stretch.
Cambridge scored 29 points in the game, leading all scorers, with 14 coming in the second half. Although Chance Gray scored 25 points in the game, Cambridge was the only player to exceed six points in the second half.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Maryland Terrapins, Ohio State Buckeyes, Women’s College Basketball, College Sports
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