No. 19 Ohio State women narrowly fall to No. 4 UCLA 82-75

Sunday afternoon in Columbus, Ohio, No. 19 Ohio State women’s basketball were the overwhelming underdogs to All-American center Lauren Betts and the No. 4 UCLA Bruins. After four quarters of Buckeye deficits and comebacks, the Bruins won the return to Big Ten play 82-75.

First quarter

UCLA came out of the gates like the No. 4 team in the country. The Bruins scored the first seven points of the game and center Lauren Betts had four of them. Ohio State’s game plan was to both try and stop the ball from even getting to the 6’7” big and double-team if it did. Betts scored six points in the first quarter but contributed on an assist during one of those double-teams.

The Bruins’ three-point shooting kept Ohio State ate bay and UCLA went 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. However, the Buckeye defense forced turnovers from the visiting Bruins and the game stayed close. In the first, Ohio State tied the game twice and the Buckeyes forced six turnovers from the Bruins.

A moment of note came early in the quarter when a loose ball went out and the referees called it for UCLA. Head coach Kevin McGuff and others on the bench twirled their hands to signal a review, and McGuff even told an official he wanted a review. However, no review happened because point guard Jaloni Cambridge told McGuff to not review it. Cambridge also scored a team high eight points in the quarter.

Second quarter

It looked like UCLA was ready to pull away in the second quarter when the Bruins stretched a two-point lead into 10 points in the first five minutes. The Bruins outscored the Buckeyes 13-3 in the first half of the quarter because Ohio State went 2-of-8 from the floor and all six misses were from three-point range.

The Buckeyes missed their first 11 attempts from beyond the arc, featuring six different players attempting a shot from deep. With 3:49 remaining in the half, center Elsa Lemmilä hit the first and only three-point shot for the home side in the opening 20 minutes.

Lemmilä played 14 minutes in each of the last three Ohio State games this season, off the bench. In the first half, Lemmilä played 16 minutes and was the only Ohio State starter without a negative plus/minus. When Lemmilä was on the court, the Buckeyes had a better fight inside the paint defensively and added a steal on an errant pass. Offensively, the center had seven first half points and showed more confidence to take a long shot even though Lemmilä missed her first attempt.

Ohio State outscored UCLA 13-9 in the final half of the second quarter to take a six-point deficit into the halftime locker room. Jaloni Cambridge’s 16 points led the Buckeyes but the guard also had two fouls early in the quarter. McGuff benched the sophomore but for only 1:05 of the game clock.

Third quarter

Out of halftime, the Buckeyes showed they were not going to give up taking deep shots. Ohio State made two of their first four attempts in the quarter and kept shooting. It slowly chipped away at the lead but the interior game of the Bruins was too much for Ohio State to slow down. Betts had 10 points in the quarter UCLA as a team had 20 points in the paint in the third quarter alone.

The Bruins stretched their lead to 11 points but Ohio State cut it down to four points with five seconds left. Guard T’Yana Todd, who had three total made shots from deep in the quarter, made her last one with .7 seconds remaining on the shot clock. It cut the Buckeye deficit to four points but UCLA guard Kiki Rice one-upped the Buckeye with a halfcourt heave that put the Bruins lead back to seven points to end the quarter.

Fourth quarter

After a quarter of pummeling Ohio State inside, UCLA began to reap the benefits of a tired Buckeye defense in the fourth quarter. Bruins guard Gianna Kneepkens started the quarter with a three-point shot and trip to the free throw line. Forward Gabriela Jaquez followed that up with a three of her own and suddenly a four-point deficit that Ohio state had with five seconds left in the third quarter stretched to 12 points.

Then came a six-point run, led by guard Kiki Rice and the game got away from the Buckeyes, but they continued to fight. With over two minutes remaining, the Buckeyes made a rare stop inside on Betts and turned it into points on the other end. That capped off a 12 of 14 run for the home team and it was suddenly a two-possession game again.

Ultimately, the clock did not have enough time for Ohio State to finish the comeback.

Number of the game: 15

Going into Sunday, rebounding was always going to be tough for the Buckeyes against a big veteran team like the Bruins. Ohio State lost the rebounding margin and everything that came with it. UCLA had 20 more rebounds than Ohio State and 25 more second chance points with the Bruins’ 19 offensive rebounds.

Key performers

Ohio State

• Jaloni Cambridge: 28 points, 4 assists, 3 steals
• Elsa Lemmilä: 13 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks

UCLA

• Lauren Betts: 18 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks
• Kiki Rice: 16 points, 4 assists
• Angela Dugalic: 15 points, 5 rebounds

Up Next

The Buckeyes are back on the road for their second Big Ten game of the week. Ohio State and the Purdue Boilermakers play on New Year’s Eve, in West Lafayette, Indiana. It is an early game that will not impact any late night countdown plans. The game tips at 12:30 p.m. ET.

Ohio State won the last two games against Purdue. On Feb. 23, 2025, the Buckeyes defeated the Boilermakers 98-46