Bucknell University
0-1,0-0Patriot
Ohio State
1-0,0-0Big Ten
No.17/25 Ohio State Pulls Away in Second Half to Defeat Women's Basketball, 71-48
11/10/2021 8:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Bucknell women's basketball team challenged No. 17/25 Ohio State on the road in the 2021-22 season opener on Wednesday and posted a strong defensive effort in the first half, limiting the Buckeyes to 27.6 percent shooting and just a four-point lead, but the Bison ultimately fell 71-48 to the Power 5 foe.
Ohio State (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten) came back after halftime with a strong 55.6 percent shooting effort and knocked down 5-of-12 from beyond the arc. Bucknell (0-1, 0-0 PL) shot 34.6 percent for the game, and rebounds were even at 36 apiece. Turnovers were an issue for the Bison, as 20 total led to 18 points for the home team. Bucknell also managed just 2-of-11 attempts from 3-point range.
The Bison were led by a 17-point effort from senior Taylor O'Brien, who shot 6-of-13 with a 3-pointer. Junior Emma Shaffer led the team in boards with seven. First-year guard Cecelia Collins finished second on the roster with eight points on 4-of-7 shooting (57%) with four rebounds.
"You never like to lose a game. With this particular game, obviously, there are great challenges. I just wanted us to be good at the things we practice and the things we emphasized for this particular game, which we were for the most part," said head coach Trevor Woodruff. "We were good against the press for the most part, which was a concern. We had 20 turnovers, and a lot of those were in the half court offense."
Six of Bucknell's turnovers occurred in the first quarter, allowing the Buckeyes to jump out to a 20-7 lead over the first nine minutes of the contest. The final minute of the first, however, saw the Bison turn the tide as they scored the first seven points of what would end up being a 15-0 run that lasted more than six minutes of game time. The run began with senior Marly Walls drawing a foul on a layup and converting at the line. Bucknell then came up with back-to-back steals, their only two of the contest, and scoring twice on fast breaks in the final minute of the first to whittle the deficit down to 20-14.
Bucknell's comeback continued into the second as they hung the first eight points on the board in the quarter to eventually take the lead at 22-20 with 5:51 to play in the first half. Eight of the 15 points came from O'Brien, while Collins and Shaffer added to it as well. After missing 13 consecutive field goals, the Buckeyes finally ended the run and regained the lead at 28-24 going into halftime. Bucknell limited Ohio State to 3-of-17 (17.6%) from the field in the second quarter, including three misses from beyond the arc.
The Bison shot 40.9 percent over the first two quarters and outscored the Buckeyes 16-10 in the paint. 12 of Bucknell's 20 turnovers were committed over the first 20 minutes.
Bucknell kept the deficit to single digits through the first 3:22 of the third, but an Ohio State 3-pointer extended it to 11. A long O'Brien triple with just over three minutes to play in the third cut it back down to 43-35, but the Buckeyes carried a 13-point lead into the final 10 minutes after shooting 58.3 percent and knocking down 3-of-6 from deep and all six foul shots in the third.
"The part that broke down in the second half was the transition defense, which was important for us," Woodruff said.
Ohio State went up by as many as 25 in the final frame, shooting better than 50 percent again and sinking two more threes. Bucknell's shooting went cold on the other hand, missing four more triples and shooting 25 percent.
"Probably the high point is the rebounding numbers. I think we won the glass in the first half, and we ended up even for the game. Considering we were small in every position in comparison to them, and we missed a lot more shots than they did, to end up even on the glass was really good," said Woodruff. "There were a lot of positives. I thought everyone that went in did something positive that we can build on, and at this point in the year that's what you want."
Bucknell travels to Fairleigh Dickinson next Wednesday, Nov. 17 to face the Knights in its second game of the season. Wednesday's game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
