COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The 18th-ranked Ohio State women's basketball team upset college hoops star Caitlin Clark and the No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes 100-92 in an overtime thriller on NBC4.
A record crowd turned out Sunday afternoon for one of the best college basketball games of the season as the Buckeyes rallied from 12-points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime against the Hawkeyes. OSU's sophomore forward Cotie McMahon led the team in the extra period to the victory, ending with a career-high 33 points along with 12 rebounds and two blocks.
The defeat for the Hawkeyes is only the second this season and broke a 15-game winning streak. Star guard Caitlin Clark put on a show for the Columbus crowd and scored a near career-high 45 points, hitting seven three pointers and 14 free throws. After the win, OSU fans stormed the court.
Value City Arena was sold out for the highly anticipated Big Ten showdown with the official attendance coming in at 18,660, a record crowd for an Ohio State women's basketball game. Sunday's game was also the most attended of the women's college basketball season thus far.
Both teams traded baskets in a high-scoring first quarter that ended with Iowa leading 26-24. Each team's stars began the game strong with Clark going 3-4 from three-point range to end the quarter with 13 points. OSU's Cotie McMahon was able to convert baskets in the paint and score 11 points.
The offensive show continued in the second quarter as the Hawkeyes entered halftime up 45-43 over the Buckeyes. Clark ended the half with 20 points, marking her 105th career 20-point game while Jacy Sheldon began to impact the game in all facets, ending the half at eight points, three rebounds, and two assists.
Iowa extended its lead to seven points to end the third quarter with some late buckets inside as backup guard Sydney Affolter converted multiple free throws and a layup in the last 90 seconds of the quarter. Ohio State also got a spark from the bench in the third as Emma Shumate knocked down back-to-back threes.
Ohio State rallied in the fourth quarter from a 12-point deficit to take the lead as the game went down to the wire in front of the energetic Columbus crowd. Celeste Taylor scored the go-ahead layup with 16 seconds to go to give the Buckeyes an 83-82 lead. Iowa's Hannah Stuelke was fouled shortly after and converted the game-tying layup. A missed Jacy Sheldon three sent the game to overtime at 83-83.
Cotie McMahon started overtime scoring OSU's first five points of the period to give the Buckeyes the lead 89-85. The Buckeyes separated themselves from the Hawkeyes with a Rebeka Mikulasikova three-pointer with one minute left to go up by six points.
McMahon's scoring and rebounding in overtime was too much for the Hawkeyes to overcome as the Buckeyes completed the resounding upset over the defending national runners-up. The result was a stark contrast to the last time the two teams played when Iowa beat OSU by 33 points in last season's Big Ten championship game.
Video posted to Twitter showed Clark and a fan colliding hard after the game when fans stormed the court. Both were knocked to the ground and medics checked on Clark while the fan got to their feet and continued celebrating. Reports state that Clark said she was fine and that Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith had apologized.
The 18th-ranked Buckeyes will face Illinois on the road on Thursday night. That game can be streamed on Peacock. Clark and Iowa will return home to face Nebraska on Saturday at 2 p.m.
Both teams will move in the newly released Associated Press poll, which will be announced Monday at noon.
