The Ohio State Buckeyes beat the Montana State Bobcats handily early Friday evening. The fourth-seeded Buckeyes will play fifth-seeded Tennessee on Sunday to advance to the Sweet 16. The Buckeyes are 26-6, and Tennessee is 23-9 this season. Ohio State will defend its perfect 16-0 home record against the Lady Vols.
Ohio State was led by their starting five, who scored all but two of the Buckeyes’ points in their 71-51 victory. Taylor Thierry led the way with 16 points, Cotie McMahon and Chance Grey each had 15, Jaloni Cambridge had 12, and Ajae Petty had 11. Petty also led the Buckeyes in rebounds with seven, and Cambridge led the team with six assists.
FIVE STARTERS IN DOUBLE FIGURES MEANS TEAM DUB CROWN 👑#GoBucks | #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/qJEVnJ6D5P
— Ohio State Women’s Basketball (@OhioStateWBB) March 22, 2025
The Buckeyes’ 20-point victory came over a Montana State team that had won 30 games. It was the perfect bounce-back game after the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio State dominated Montana State at the rim, and that proved to be the decisive factor of the game. The Buckeyes outrebounded the Bobcats 33-23. More importantly, Ohio State had a whopping 44-14 advantage on points in the paint.
Ohio State also crushed Montana State in ball movement. The Buckeyes had more assists (17-6) and won the turnover battle decisively. They forced 26 turnovers by the Bobcats to their 16 and had 32 (to Montana State’s 21) points off of turnovers and 21 points (to Montana State’s 2).
Ohio State will need a repeat performance against Tennessee, especially of the dominance at the rim. Petty and Thierry will need to win the rebound battle for the Buckeyes to win the game in the paint. They’ll also need more of a perimeter threat from the whole team and not just Chance Grey.
Grey was 5 of 8 from beyond the arc against the Bobcats, but the rest of the team was 0 of 9. Home-court advantage should be a big help as they look to do what the football team did three months ago.