By Danielle Daniels

Jan. 21, 2024

he Buckeyes welcomed the largest regular season indoor crowd for women’s basketball this season on Sunday.   

Box Score | Season Stats | Photo Gallery 

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 18/15 Ohio State Buckeyes (15-3, 6-1 B1G) beat No. 2/2 Iowa (18-2, 7-1 B1G) on Sunday afternoon by a 100-92 margin in overtime. The Buckeyes welcomed a program record 18,660 to the Schottenstein Center, the largest indoor regular season crowd for a women’s basketball game this season.

A back-and-forth first quarter with six ties and three lead changes saw Iowa up 26-24 after 10 minutes. Scoring was even in the second quarter as the Hawkeyes led 45-43 at halftime. Iowa scored the final five points of the third quarter to lead 65-58 after 30 minutes. Ohio State forced overtime with a 25-18 fourth quarter after being down by as many as 12 points with just under nine minutes to play. The Buckeyes scored first in the overtime period and didn’t relinquish the lead, outscoring the Hawkeyes 17-9 in overtime on the way to a 100-92 win.

Jacy Sheldon moved into the top-10 on the program’s all-time scoring list as her 22 points today brought her career total to 1,770 points. Cotie McMahon was the first in the game to double figures and finished with a career-high 33 points and a season-high 12 rebounds. Taylor Thierry (11), Celeste Taylor (10) and Rebeka Mikulášiková (10) also scored in double figures as all five starters scored in double figures for the second-straight game.

How it Happened

McMahon opened with a jumper before Iowa took the lead with a pair of three-point plays. The teams traded baskets before four-unanswered points from McMahon tied the game at 14 midway through the quarter. A second three from Rikki Harris gave Ohio State the lead and a three-point play from McMahon put the Buckeyes in front 20-17. Iowa responded with the next five points before OSU tied the game at 22 and 24. The Hawkeyes held the 26-24 lead after 10 minutes.

Thierry’s three-pointer gave Ohio State the lead back to start the second quarter. Iowa used an extended 11-3 run to take a 38-32 lead with 5:43 remaining before halftime. Ohio State got within one at 41-40 with 2:26 to play. Iowa scored the next five points but a three-pointer from Sheldon cut the Buckeyes’ deficit to 45-43 going into the locker room.

The teams traded baskets to start the third quarter before back-to-back baskets from Sheldon amidst a steal got the Buckeyes within one at 53-52 with 5:21 remaining in the third quarter. Iowa responded with a 7-0 run to increase its lead to 60-52. Emma Shumate came off the bench and made back-to-back triples to trim OSU’s deficit to 60-58 with just under two minutes left in the quarter. The Hawkeyes scored the final five points to take a 65-58 lead into the final quarter.

Iowa scored the first five points of the fourth quarter to open a 70-58 lead with 8:49 to play, forcing a Buckeye timeout. A three-point play from McMahon and back-to-back Buckeye layups prompted an Iowa timeout as OSU trailed 72-65 with 7:23 remaining. Sheldon extended the OSU run to 8-0 and McMahon followed a Hawkeye triple with the next four points to get the Buckeyes within two at 75-73 midway through the quarter. Ohio State took a 77-76 lead on a Taylor driving layup with 3:42 to play before back-to-back Iowa layups. Another layup from Taylor put the Buckeyes back on top 83-82 with 16 seconds remaining but an Iowa free throw sent the game to overtime.

McMahon opened the overtime period with a three-point play and the Buckeyes didn’t surrender the lead, outscoring the Hawkeyes 17-9. Iowa got within one on two occasions but Ohio State’s defense didn’t allow back-to-back baskets. McMahon and Sheldon combined for 14 of OSU’s overtime points with the other three coming from Mikulášiková behind the arc.

Highlights 

• Introductions
• Q1: Harris three-pointer 
• Q1: McMahon cut 
• Q1: McMahon and-one 
• Q2: Thierry drive 
• Q2: Taylor three-pointer 
• Q3: Sheldon back-to-back
• Q3: Shumate three-pointer
• Q4: McMahon tough finish
• Q4: Sheldon fastbreak  
• Q4: Taylor driving layup 
• Q4: Taylor jumper 
• OT: McMahon career-high 
• Court storm

Game Notes 

• The Buckeyes brought in a program record 18,660 fans to today’s game. Ohio State’s previous attendance record was 17,525 – set on Feb. 27, 2005 in a 69-58 win over Penn State.
• This is the Big Ten’s first-ever women’s basketball conference game broadcast on NBC.
• This is the largest regular season indoor women’s basketball crowd of the season.
• The Buckeyes scored 100 points for the second time this season.
• This is the Buckeyes’ third ranked win of the season and first against a No. 2 team since last season’s Big Ten Tournament win against Indiana.
• All five Buckeye starters scored in double figures for the second-straight game.
• The Buckeyes are 2-0 in overtime games this season.
• Jacy Sheldon entered the top-10 in program history in scoring as her 24 points today brought her career total to 1,770. This is her 16^th game of the season with at least 10 points and seventh with 20+ points. She also tied her season-high seven rebounds.
• Cotie McMahon was the first in the game to reach double figures, doing so less than seven minutes into the game. McMahon’s 13^th double-figure game of the season was good for a career-high 33 points. This is her fourth game of the season with 20+ points.
• McMahon added a season-high 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season.
• Taylor Thierry scored her 14^th game of the season in double figures with 11 points, including her 800^th career point.
• Celeste Taylor totaled 10 points for her ninth game of the season in double figures.
• Rebeka Mikulášiková reached double figures for the eighth time of the season with 10 points.
• Q1: The Buckeyes had the 9-7 edge on the boards during the quarter.
• Q2: Ohio State shot 4-of-8 from long range during the quarter.
• Q3: The Buckeyes were 3-of-5 (.600) from behind the arc, including Emma Shumate going 2-of-2 in the quarter.
• Q4: Ohio State shot 62.5 percent from the floor during the quarter.
• OT: The Buckeyes outscored the Hawkeyes 17-6 in the overtime period, scoring first and holding the lead.

What They Said 

• Head Coach Kevin McGuff 
  • “[The environment] was incredible. I’m just so proud of our community, the way they came out to support us and a great Iowa team. It was an incredible game by two good teams. Caitlin Clark is a spectacular player and I know that was a big draw and she delivered. She was unbelievable. Cotie [McMahon] was unbelievable. It was just a great game. For fans who’ve never been here before, hopefully that keeps them coming back because you saw a team playing extremely hard, extremely well and really together. I think we’re a fun group to watch and hopefully we can continue to build on this.”
• Graduate guard Jacy Sheldon 
  • “You have heard me say we have the best fans in the land and they showed out today. They were amazing. They changed the game to create one of maybe the loudest atmospheres we’ve played in, so it was amazing.”
• Sophomore forward Cotie McMahon 
  • “[An and-one call] is an out of body experience. I’m very vocal as we all know but I feel like the ‘and-one’ is the best thing in the world, especially when you have it in front of this kind of crowd. Everyone is rooting for you. You make the bucket and you get a foul. It’s LeBron stuff. It’s really cool.”

Up Next 

Ohio State travels to Illinois on Thursday for a 7 p.m. game. The game will be broadcast on Peacock and AM1460. 

Tickets for the 2023-24 season are now on sale. For more information, visit ohiostatebuckeyes.com. Contact the ticket office with any questions at 1-800-GOBUCKS (select option 2) or [email protected].

Ticket links:  

• Single game tickets
• Suite rentals

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