West Virginia struggled to stop Ohio State guard Kelsey Mitchell, who eclipsed the 40-point mark for the fourth time this year as the Buckeyes outlasted West Virginia to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Mitchell scored 45 points – the fourth highest total ever in NCAA play – to lead third-seed Ohio State to an 88-81 win over the No. 6 Mountaineers on Sunday. She was 11 for 31 from the field, including 5 for 12 from beyond the 3-point line.
Constantly battered driving to the basket by a West Virginia team determined to slow her down, Mitchell also made was 18 of 22 shots from the foul line as the Ohio State moved to the Sweet 16 round for the eighth time.
”She’s obviously very difficult to guard,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. ”She handles the ball and has got speed and quickness like nobody else in college basketball. West Virginia’s a great team. They’re a really good defensive team, but think we were able to play in transition and just play with enough spacing to give her opportunities to drive the ball.”
As the game wound down, the only one who could stop Mitchell was Mitchell herself, as she managed to miss 11 consecutive shots. She was just 5-for-20 from the field in the second half, including missing 10 of 11 in the fourth quarter.
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