Washington Battles No. 9 Ohio State But Falls 85-76

Sunday, November 19

Columbus, OH

8:00 AM

University of Washington

1-2

Ohio State

4-1

Washington

Ohio State

November 19, 2017 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio --- Washington played a solid all-around game, putting a big scare into No. 9 Ohio State, but ultimately fell 85-76 on Sunday morning at the Value City Arena in Columbus.

The Huskies fall to 1-2, suffering a loss in their first road game of the season while the Buckeyes improve to 4-1.

Washington played well in its toughest contest of the season thus far with a pair of freshman leading the way for the Huskies. Khayla Rooks scored 15 points including 13 in the second half while Kierra Collier added 15 points and three assists. Senior Jenna Moser added 12 points with sophomore Mai-Loni Henson adding 11 points.

"This was an incredible opportunity for our young team to come out to play Ohio State on their home court in front of their fans against a fantastic team," said Head Coach Jody Wynn. "It gave us a great opportunity early in the season to test where we are, playing with five freshmen on the floor. They are a tough matchup but I am proud of our young kids. They competed and battled for 40 minutes."

Washington was strong on the boards, holding a 46-40 rebounding edge including a 17-12 advantage on the offensive glass. Freshman Fapou Semebene and sophomore Amber Melgoza each had 10 rebounds with with six of Semebene's coming on the offensive end.

"To me rebounding is about toughness and heart. We might not have a player over 6-1 on the roster, but we were tough out there," said Wynn. "Fapou ignited things for us. She had five offensive rebounds in the first half and she kept giving us extra possessions. We didn't shoot the ball particularly well especially in that second quarter, but she gave us extra possessions. We were outsized and outmatched, but just credit our team's heart."

Despite being underdogs, the Huskies kept things close throughout as Ohio State would go on a run only to see Washington rally back again and again. The Huskies trailed by 16 points at 64-48 with 2:24 left in the third after Ohio State went on a 10-0 run. But Washington showed its grit and slowly chipped away, using a long 19-6 run over the next 5:30 to pull back within three at 70-67 with 6:51 to go.

But the Huskies could get no closer as the Buckeyes extended the lead back to 10 two minutes later. Washington would use a final push to make it a seven-point game as Moser drained a long three but that would be as close as it would get.

Washington looked impressive in the first half, and hung with the Buckeyes through much of the period. Ohio State opened an early 14-8 lead thanks to 6-of-7 shooting to open the quarter. Washington closed the gap with a Melgoza three followed by a Peterson layup off a turnover to cut the lead to one.

The teams exchanged buckets over the next four minutes before OSU stretched the lead back to four on a layup to make it 21-17 with 3:07 to go. But Washington held the Buckeyes off the board the rest of the quarter and used a layup by Rooks and a great putback by Semebene to tie the score at 21-21.

Ohio State opened the second half on fire, hitting 6-of-6 from the field, using a 14-2 run over the first four minutes to open a 35-23 lead. But after that, the Buckeyes went ice cold and UW responded with a long run of their own, out-scoring OSU 10-0 over the next three minutes to pull back within two at 35-33 with 2:30 left to go before halftime. Washington still trailed by three with one minute left but turned the ball over and the Buckeyes hit a three in their final possession to lead 42-36 at the break.

The teams matched each other through the first few minutes of the third quarter. Ohio State offense quickly erupted midway through the quarter, using a lightning fast 10-0 run over a 1:40 stretch to take a commanding 62-45 lead on a three by Kelsey Mitchell with 4:28 left. Washington would slowly close the gap and set up a much closer finish than many outside of the UW bench could have imagined.

Mitchell led the way for OSU with 27 points and was one of five Buckeyes in double-figures.

The Huskies shot better than 40 percent in each quarter except the second but finished with a shooting percentage of 38.9 (28-of-72), including going 10-of-30 from beyond the arc.

Washington remains on the road for its next two games, squaring off against Creighton and No. 2 Texas at the South Point Shootout in Las Vegas, Nev on Nov. 24-25.