Centerville grad Cotie McMahon dominated overtime and finished with 33 points and 12 rebounds for Ohio State, helping the Buckeyes overcome 45 points by Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.
The nation’s leading scorer, Clark made 12 of 25 shots, including 7 of 18 from 3-point range, and went 14 for 16 from the free-throw line.
But Ohio State had four double-figure scorers as Jacy Sheldon poured in 24, Taylor Thierry had 11 and Celeste Taylor and Rebeka Mikulasikova had 10 apiece.
McMahon had eight points in overtime as she attacked the interior of Iowa’s 2-3 zone defense, and Sheldon hit a four free throws in the final 30 seconds to ice the game and drop the Hawkeyes to 18-2 overall and 7-1 in the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes (15-3, 6-1) dribbled out the final seconds, setting off a wild celebration that included a scary moment when an Ohio State fan rushing the court collided with Clark, who was sprinting off the court.
“Kind of scary,” she said in the postgame interview room. “Could have caused a pretty serious injury to me and knocked the wind out of me, but luckily my teammates kind of picked me up and got me off the court.”
An Ohio State spokesman said director of athletics Gene Smith apologized to Clark and Bluder after the game.
“I really appreciate that, you know, this is what comes with the territory and I’m sure they tried their best to do whatever they could. Obviously it didn’t work and that’s disappointing, but you know, just focus now on the game and ways we can get better.”
Bluder also expressed disappointment in the immediate aftermath of the game but also confirmed McMahon became an unstoppable force down the stretch.
“I mean, she draws 10 fouls, goes to the free throw line 14 times,” Bluder said. “So that was just a tough — you know, she’s really, really hard to guard. She’s a great basketball player.”
McMahon, a 6-foot sophomore guard, scored in double figures for the fifth game in a row after she ended December in a slump.
“I kind of knew this game my team needed me no matter what, and we refused to lose this game,” said McMahon, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year. “So I knew I had to do everything I could just as far as rebounding, being a good teammate, making sure I got the good looks, the good passes and stuff like that. So that’s really all I was focused on. The atmosphere was great, obviously. Having good energy around me helped me keep that going, but just playing for my team helped keep me motivated.”
Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said he has seen McMahon practice better over the past couple of weeks.
“So I’m really happy to see her be able to apply that to a game,” McGuff said. “She was just so effective around the rim, and you can see her physicality and aggression really coming through. Really fun to watch.”
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