Ohio State senior guard Kelsey Mitchell takes a shot during the Buckeyes’ game against Washington on Nov. 19. Credit: Colin Hass-Hill | Sports Editor
The No. 9 Ohio State women’s basketball team (6-1) cruised to a 104-62 victory against Florida Gulf Coast (6-1) behind senior guard Kelsey Mitchell’s 34-point performance in the second round of the Play4Kay Showcase on Thursday in Las Vegas.
On her fourth triple of the game, she passed Connecticut’s Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis to become the Division I all-time leader in career 3-pointers made. She went 11-for-15 from the field and hit 7-of-11 3-pointers.
Ohio State had no issue scoring and jumped out to an early 32-9 lead after the opening quarter. It made 58 percent of its shots and Florida Gulf Coast converted just 35 percent of its shot attempts.
That discrepancy extended beyond the 3-point line. The Buckeyes hit 14-of-24 shots from beyond the arc. The Eagles also made 14 3s, but attempted 42 triples.
The Buckeyes dominated the glass for the second game in a row, though no player had more than six boards. Ohio State held a 47-29 rebounding advantage and scored 42 points in the paint, while the Eagles had just 16 points in the paint.
Ohio State forward Stephanie Mavunga added 14 points, and guards Linnae Harper and Asia Doss dropped 17 and 10 points, respectively. Doss led the game and set a career-high with eight assists and zero turnovers.
Forward Rosemarie Julien and guard Taylor Gradinjan each scored a team-leading 15 points for Florida Gulf Coast.
The Buckeyes will take on the winner of Stanford and Belmont in the finals of the tournament at 11 p.m. Saturday night. In the first round on Thursday, Ohio State beat Memphis 100-69.
