Ohio State womens basketball cruises to a first-round victory

The Ohio State women's basketball team entered the NCAA Tournament having lost two games in a row. They lost to Iowa to close out the regular season in a game that didn't mean too much for the Buckeyes, but they also got shellacked by Maryland in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament.

Kevin McGuff was hoping that his squad was going to take out some anger on the Buckeyes' first NCAA Tournament opponent, 15-seed Maine. They did just that. After a first quarter that saw Maine lead for a few minutes, the Buckeyes pulled away and took them down 80-57.

Ohio State had some issues with the zone being played by Main early. They weren't making quick enough passes to get good, open shots. That changed in the second quarter when their press started getting them some easier transition baskets.

Celeste Taylor made a big difference on the defensive side of the ball. The Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year had a whopping six steals as the Buckeyes forced Maine into 22 turnovers. She smothered the Black Bears into making bad decisions in the backcourt.

Jacy Sheldon was unsurprisingly the leading scorer for the Buckeyes, putting in 19 on 7/14 shooting. The team as a whole shot over 50% from the field and made 16 of their 21 free throws. Free throw shooting is going to be key for this team in the tournament since it's not something they do well.

The Ohio State women's basketball team will now take on the winner of the 7/10 game which features Duke and Richmond. Ohio State will be favored to win in that game no matter who ends up winning that particular matchup.

This was a nice bounce-back victory for these ladies. Now they can feel more confident heading into the tougher games of this NCAA Tournament.