Martina Ellerbe led five Buckeyes in double-figures with a career-high 21 points and Ohio State scored 56 second-half points on its way to a 93-63 victory over Lehigh (5-2) Wednesday night at Value City Arena.
Ellerbe was 10 of 12 from the field and added six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Ameryst Alston scored 16 and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds while Cait Craft and Ashley Adams both finished with 14. Maleeka Kynard rounded out the top scorers for the Buckeyes with a career-high 12 points.
“Martina can play away from the basket and I think that helps create some spacing for Darryce (Moore) as well,” head coach Kevin McGuff said. “And I think, overall, she has been playing very well so we wanted to try inserting her into the starting lineup. I think, so far, she is taking advantage of that opportunity. Martina was terrific tonight.”
Lehigh got off to a hot start, hitting five first-half 3-pointers to give the Mountain Hawks a 24-20 lead with 7:36 left in the half. But after an OSU timeout, Kynard sparked an 11-0 run over the next 4 minutes to turn a four-point deficit into a seven-point lead. A Craft layup in the final seconds pushed Ohio State’s lead to 37-28 at the half.
The Buckeyes then took control in the second stanza, going on a 16-1 run to open the half and not allowing a Lehigh field goal until the 15:53 mark on a 3-pointer by Lexi Martins. Ohio State held the Mountain Hawks to 23 percent shooting in the second half and led by as much as 38 late in the game.
Ohio State, who shot at least 50 percent for the third game this season, also used its height advantage to outscore the Mountain Hawks 50-12 inside.
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