Scarlet Sunrise: Ohio State outlasts Caitlin Clark, Iowa in front of record-setting crowd
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Ohio State outlasts Caitlin Clark, Iowa in front of record-setting crowd
With under nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter Sunday afternoon in front of a record-setting Schottenstein Center crowd, Ohio State trailed No. 2 Iowa by 12 points.
Then sophomore Cotie McMahon gave all 18,660 fans — the most at an indoor women’s basketball game this season and also the most in single-game program history — a reason to get out of their seats.
McMahon caught a pass from point guard Jacy Sheldon at the top of the key. She backed down Iowa’s Hannah Stuelke, spun and, despite the contact, delivered an and-one conversion.
“I feel like an and-one is just like the best thing in the world,” McMahon said postgame, “especially when you have this kind of crowd. It’s just like everyone is rooting for you. You make the bucket, and you get a foul — that’s LeBron stuff right there.”
It was the start of a fourth quarter comeback that featured a 19-6 run, which turned that 12-point deficit into a one-point advantage with 3:42 to go, and ultimately set the stage for a 100-92 overtime win.
Of those 19 Buckeyes points, McMahon and Sheldon scored 17 straight. Celeste Taylor got No. 18 Ohio State (15-3, 6-1 Big Ten) over the hump with a shot fake, drive and go-ahead layup.
“It’s that grittiness in us,” Sheldon said. I think there came a point where we flipped a switch, and we knew we were going to win the game. And we knew what we had to do to do it.”
Iowa (18-2, 7-1) superstar Caitlin Clark immediately responded, restoring the Hawkeyes’ lead. Clark finished with a season-high 45 points, seven assists and three rebounds.
But Taylor once again swung the pendulum back in Ohio State’s favor, this time with 16 seconds remaining. Her off-balanced floater kissed off the glass and stuck the landing.
A Stuelke free throw on the other end tied the game at 83-83. Sheldon got a great look from a stepback 3-pointer in the final moments of regulation, but it hit back iron.
To overtime the Big Ten foes went.
And it was in overtime that McMahon’s takeover continued. She delivered three more field goals, including another and-one, and, when all was said and done, scored 21 of her 33 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“I’ve been struggling the past couple of games,” McMahon said. “But I kind of knew, this game, my team needed me, no matter what. We refused to lose this game.”
Iowa’s only scoring in the extra frame came from Clark, except she alone wasn’t enough to prevent the upset, particularly after Sheldon scored the last of her 24 points on a layup and Rebeka Mikulasikova drilled a 3-pointer to put the Buckeyes up six.
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Ohio State prevailed against the sport’s biggest star. Then its fans stormed the court, celebrating one of the most iconic wins in program history.
Caitlin Clark is OK after colliding with court-storming Buckeyes fan
Unfortunately, Ohio State’s court storming didn’t go off without a hitch.
As Clark was leaving the court and heading to the visiting locker room, she collided with an Ohio State fan who, while apparently filming the frenzy, was rushing to the mosh pit forming at and around the logo.
Clark had to be helped by her teammates off the floor. She said postgame, however, that she’s OK.
“Great environment. These are the games you love to play in, 18,000 people here,” Clark said. “Obviously, I can see their storming of the court, which is fine. I mean, good for their students, great win for them. I was just trying to exit the court as quickly as possible so I started running, and I was absolutely just hammered by somebody trying to run onto the court and basically blindsided.
“Kind of scary. Could have caused a pretty serious injury to me, and it knocked the wind out of me. Luckily, my teammates kind of picked me up and got me off the court. And their AD (Gene Smith) already came and apologized to me so I really appreciate that. This is what comes with the territory. I’m sure they tried their best to do whatever they could, obviously it didn’t work, and that’s disappointing. But just focused now on the game and ways we can get better.”
Longtime Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder was openly frustrated about the situation.
“It’s unfortunate the game ended that way,” she said. “Caitlin gets taken out on the floor, gets some inappropriate words yelled at her by fans, by students,” Bluder said. “That just should not happen. It should not happen. Our players should be safe. They should be able to walk off the floor. That’s very disappointing.”
Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff expressed his apologies to not only Clark but the whole Iowa program during his postgame presser.
“She had such a spectacular performance today, and she’s such a great player. And that should never happen. So I feel really badly,” McGuff said. “Hopefully she’s OK, and it doesn’t affect her moving forward. But that’s extremely unfortunate. It shouldn’t happen to anybody, but, man, such a great player like Caitlin, I really hate that.
“I know we had security in place, but the student apparently beat the security so I really feel badly about that.”
Counting down
Buckeyes vs. Akron: 222 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 313 days
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