COLUMBUS, Ohio — Celeste Taylor scored 20 points and No. 2 Ohio State clinched at least a share of the Big Ten title and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with a 79-66 win over Maryland on Sunday.
Jacy Sheldon had 17 points and three more players scored in double figures for the surging Buckeyes (24-4, 15-1 Big Ten), who won their 14th straight game with two to go in the regular season. They can capture the conference title outright with a win in one of those.
Cotie McMahon finished with 15 points despite picking up her fourth foul in the third period and spending considerable time on the bench.
Bri McDaniel had 21 points and Brinae Alexander added 16 for the Terps (16-11, 8-8), who saw their four-game winning streak end.
Taylor scored 13 points, going 3-for-4 from 3-point range, as the Buckeyes led 44-31 at the half. Ohio State was 7-for-14 from beyond the arc in the first half.
Ohio State led by as many as 15 in the third quarter, but Maryland closed the deficit, with Jakia Brown-Turner’s fast-break layup reducing the lead to five at the end of the period. But the Buckeyes slowly opened it back up in the fourth.
“We always put emphasis on our third quarters. I feel like at the beginning of conference play that was where we struggled,” Alexander said. “We really wanted to put emphasis on turning that around. It was the same mentality coming out of halftime and knowing we had to have a strong start.”
“I loved how we competed,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “I thought for 40 minutes we were resilient. We’re already at a seven-player rotation so when you take [Shyanne Sellers] out, our leader, it was a tough way to start. We wanted to make Ohio State shoot the three and it’s an area where they only average seven threes a game. They had that in the first half so kudos to them.”
Maryland: The Terps haven’t been able to beat a team ranked in the AP Top 25 all season. They had the Buckeyes in range but were overpowered down the stretch.
Ohio State: Before the conference tournament, the Buckeyes will look for revenge against Michigan, which dealt them their last loss on Dec. 30. The finale will be a big one — at No. 4 Iowa against Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes. Ohio State beat then-No. 2 Iowa, 100-92, in overtime Jan. 21 in Columbus.
Wisconsin at Maryland
Thursday, 6 p.m.
TV: Big Ten Network
