There are some who think all March Madness games should be played on neutral courts to avoid the obvious home-court advantage. Last night’s games deflated that theory, as neither Columbus, Ohio nor Blacksburg, Virginia were the deciding factors.
Duke – Ohio State Lived Up to March Madness in this Matchup
The Duke Blue Devils met the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus with hopes of moving forward after defeating Richmond. The Buckeyes dominated Maine in their first game and looked to continue the streak. After the first quarter, it looked as though that would happen. From the outset, it became apparent that Cotie McMahon would lead the charge. She scored seven of her eventual 27 points, helping to put Ohio State up 20-10 in the opening quarter.
Duke committed 5 of their 16 turnovers in the first but held Jacy Sheldon to only two points. Duke shook off the first, and in the second quarter more than doubled their output in the first, with Reigan Richardson scoring ten of her 28 points. Sheldon scored 5 points and McMahon 6, but Duke took the quarter 22-16, making it an Ohio State 4-point lead 36-32 going into the half.
In the third, both teams traded buckets, led by McMahon for OSU and Richardson for Duke, until Richardson tied it up at the 1:53 mark 47-47. A Delaney Thomas layup gave Duke a two-point lead, and Camilla Emsbo‘s layup opened it to 51-48, but at 0:01 Emma Koabel fouled Rikki Harris, who made both free throws, cutting the Duke lead to one, 51-50.
The fourth quarter was more of the same, trading buckets until Harris made one of two free throws to put OSU up one, which was followed immediately by a Richardson trey at 5:22. Duke was up 59-57. Official TV timeout. Duke never trailed again, outscoring the Buckeyes 16-5 in the final five minutes, and won 75-63. The Buckeyes had built a 16-point lead halfway through the second quarter, partly due to their pressing defense.
HOW SWEET IT IS pic.twitter.com/G4VFcgTX50
— Duke Women’s Basketball (@DukeWBB) March 24, 2024
Scoring recap of Duke – Ohio State
Duke managed to weather that storm, and from there began to chip away at the OSU lead. McMahon owned the paint and scored a total of 27 points for OSU. Richardson’s 28 points led Duke, with Ashlon Jackson adding 13 and Taina Mair 11. For Ohio State, Sheldon scored 13 shooting 5-13, and scoring the only 3-pointer for the Buckeyes, who went 1-11 from deep.
Duke’s ability to maintain composure and stay the course got them through this game. As for Ohio State, they were unable to keep consistency, particularly in the second half. Duke will move on to play either UConn or Syracuse next Saturday.
Baylor and Virginia Tech faced off in the Portland Region
Baylor rolled into Blacksburg coming off of an 80-63 win over Vanderbilt, intent on continuing their run. Virginia Tech, in its first tournament game without Liz Kitley, made easy work of Marshall, beating them 92-49. Matilda Ekh had finally come out of her shooting slump, scoring 21 points and shooting 5-7 from deep. Clara Strack, who had the daunting task of filling in for Kitley, shot a perfect 7-7 and totaled 17 points.
Carleigh Wenzel added 13 off the bench, and it looked as though the Hokies had found a way to make up for Kitley’s absence. But that was then, and against Baylor, VT found a more persistent opponent. Both teams shot an identical 42.9% on 27-63. The Bears of Baylor got to the line more, but only shot 16-25, while VT shot 9-12. Baylor scored 6 points off of 14 VT turnovers, and the Hokies scored 7 off of 10 Baylor turnovers.
Baylor jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, with Strack keeping the Hokies within reach of Baylor. Then Baylor opened up a seven-point lead, but Georgia Amoore scored the last 5 points for VT, bringing the score to 21-18 Baylor. Amoore tied it up at the beginning of the second quarter, and then no one scored until the 6:13 mark when Sarah Andrew hit a trey for Baylor.
An Exciting Game Up to the Very End Between Both Schools
Cayla King tied it up a minute later with a three for VT taking it to 24-24, but from there, Baylor outscored VT 10-4, going up 34-28 at the half. The third quarter started with a VT 10-4 run, tying the game at 38 all. They would go on to tie up three more times, the last on a Wenzel three to make it 52-52, but then Jada Walker hit a buzzer-beater trey and put Baylor up 55-52 at the end of the quarter.
In the final frame, the Hokies kept it close, but Baylor always seemed to stay one step ahead. This was thanks in part to Walker’s 14 points in the quarter. VT got within one point three times, the last on an Amoore trey, but King fouled Walker with six seconds left. Walker hit both, and the game ended 75-72. It was a gritty game, but Baylor had a little more grit. Walker’s 28 points certainly propelled Baylor, with Darianna Littlepage-Buggs adding 10 and Sarah Andrews scoring 16.
TURN US UP! 📢🗣️#SicEm | #GreaterThan pic.twitter.com/C7M401iVmg
— Baylor Women's Basketball (@BaylorWBB) March 25, 2024
Can the Baylor Bears add to March Madness in the Sweet Sixteen?
The Hokies were led by Matilda Ekh with 19, and Amoore and Clara Strack each scored 18. Amoore struggled from three, shooting 3-11, and overall 7-22. While she is predicted to go into the WNBA draft, she still has a year of eligibility left, and now has 48 hours to make a decision. Obviously, this was not the way that Kitley wanted to go out, but when she is fully recovered, I suspect she will be very welcome in the WNBA. Baylor moves on to meet the winner of USC-Kansas.
Does Baylor have what it takes to meet a team like USC? Can Kansas pull off a major upset against USC? Two tough questions, which will be answered very soon as March Madness rolls on.
And that, my friends, as they say, is that.’ — Martin Ruben.
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