For the 15th time in program history, the Ohio State Buckeyes are the Big Ten Champions. The Buckeyes defeated Rutgers 73-45 on Sunday to finish the regular season 25-5 overall and 15-1 in Big Ten Play.
This is the first Big Ten regular season title for the Buckeyes since 2010. The Buckeyes lead the conference with 15 titles as no other program has more than nine titles.
Kelsey Mitchell led three Buckeyes in double-figures with 21 points and five assists. Senior Shayla Cooper was 3-of-6 from long range and finished with 12 points while Sierra Calhoun chipped-in with 10 points.
Asia Doss hit both of her three-point attempt for nine points and Alexa Hart only had two points but grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Scarlet Knights were led by Shrita Parker with 16 points.
Coming off the fast-paced up and down game against Maryland last Monday, Sunday’s game seemed like a grind. OSU shot just 40 percent from the floor but held Rutgers to 32 percent and forced the Scarlet Knights into 21 turnovers.
Rutgers opened the scoring with a three-pointer but the Buckeyes would score the next 15 points to take command of the game. OSU led 18-6 after the first quarter and had forced nine turnovers. The Buckeyes out-scored Rutgers 19-11 in the second and led 37-18 at the break.
Rutgers scored 19 points in the third quarter but Ohio State was able to close out the game with a 20-9 run in the fourth quarter for the final score of 73-45.
With the win, the Buckeyes have secured the No. 1 seed in next week’s Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. OSU will play the winner of the 8/9 game between Iowa and Northwestern on Friday at Noon.
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