A big fourth quarter and five in double figures leads No. 9-ranked Ohio State past visiting Virginia 93-73 Monday night at Value City Arena.
The win was the fourth-straight for the Buckeyes who finish non-conference play at 8-3 overall. Virginia falls for the first time in the last four games and is now 8-4 on the season.
Ameryst Alston (24) and Kelsey Mitchell (23) topped 20 points in the same game for the seventh time this season to pace the Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes closed non-conference action with a solid 93-73 win over Virginia but it didn’t come without a scare.
Ohio State opened the game with a 9-0 run and held momentum for the majority of the first half, ultimately leading 43-29 at the break. But Virginia shot 50 percent in the third quarter, including 5-of-5 of long range and knifed the lead down to as few as three at 59-56 with less two minutes to play in the third quarter. A three-pointer by Mitchell at the end of the quarter helped right the ship for the home team as the game headed to the decisive final stanza.
In the fourth, Alston had two big drives to the hole that resulted in four points and sophomore Asia Doss provided a spark, scoring eight of her 10 points in the final five minutes to help the Buckeyes pull away. Ohio State shot 68.8 percent in the final frame while limiting Virginia to just 26.3 percent.
Alston led the Buckeyes with 24 points. She made a pair of three-pointers, including a big one with five minutes remaining off a feed from Doss. Mitchell finished with 23 points and tied her season-high with six assists.
Sophomore forward Alexa Hart had a solid game inside, scoring a season-high 19 points and grabbing a season-high 12 rebounds for her second double-double of the year. She also swatted a season-high six shots.
Shayla Cooper finished just one rebound short of a double-double as she had 13 points and nine boards. Doss chipped-in with 10 points on a 4-of-4 shooting to go along with three rebounds and three assists.
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