The No. 12 Buckeyes tip-off against No. 2 UCLA at Value City Arena Monday night. Ohio State fell short 77-71 as it attempted a 20-point comeback late in the fourth quarter. Credit: Caleb Blake I The Lantern

Eight days ago, the Buckeyes completed a double-digit comeback at Value City Arena.

The opportunity presented itself again Friday night, but this time against a much heftier opponent No. 2 UCLA. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t render the results they wanted. 

The No. 12 Ohio State women’s basketball team (9-2, 1-0 Big Ten) dropped its first home game of the season 77-71 against No. 2 UCLA (10-0, 0-0 Pac-12) at home Monday night after a 20-point comeback fell short. 

Graduate guard Jacy Sheldon led all scorers with a game-high 30 points as she dropped 12 in the final period. Junior forward Taylor Thierry followed with 20 points of her own, however, a rough outing occurred at the worst time for Buckeyes’ second-leading scorer, Cotie McMahon. 

The sophomore struggled to find her rhythm as she shot 2-of-14 from the field, with several getting swatted from the Bruin’s 6-foot-7 center, Lauren Betts. 

UCLA’s Charisma Osborne led the team with 19 points, as she knocked down three 3-pointers. Four other Bruins also reached double figures, including sophomores Kiki Rice and Betts. 

Buckeye fans, decked out for a “white out,” filled the arena fired up for a top-15 matchup, and the energy was reciprocated, especially from Thierry. 

The sophomore scored the first 5 points of the game while assisting on the Buckeyes’ seventh. An inbound steal led to an easy layup from Sheldon, forcing UCLA’s head coach Cori Close to call an early timeout with 7:57. 

A 3-pointer from McMahon pushed the Buckeyes to an early 10-2 lead, however, the Bruins wouldn’t go away easily. Back-to-back layups from Betts helped fuel an 8-0 run, tying the game at 10 apiece. 

Offensive rebounds for UCLA, which were a point of emphasis for the Buckeyes entering the matchup, played a heavy role in its comeback. The Bruins nearly doubled Ohio State on the glass in the first period, and the onslaught continued in the second as UCLA widened its lead. 

Rice kept the Bruins within striking distance as she scored 6 of her 15 points in the second quarter. A pair of free throws from sophomore guard Londynn Jones gave UCLA its first lead of the night at 25-24.  

The points from the charity strike came on a foul from Sheldon, which became her second of the game. Still, Buckeye head coach Kevin McGuff elected to keep the graduate in alongside redshirt senior Madison Greene, who checked in off the bench. 

Despite the play between the two shift guards, the Bruins began finding daylight inside as they scored 26 first-half points in the paint, with Betts hauling in 9 of her own. 

A blown coverage on a fast-break layup hastily gave the Bruins a 5-point lead, and McGuff had seen enough as he called a timeout with 4:11. 

McMahon looked to find her footing inside but struggled to do so against Betts, making her unable to get clean looks inside the lane. McMahon finished 8 points below her season average of 15.8.

A corner three from graduate forward Rebeka Mikulasikova stopped a 6-0 run from UCLA, but rebounds hindered the Buckeyes as they got outrebounded 22-13. Ohio State entered the halftime down six, and nearly 30 minutes later found itself down by double-digits. 

The Bruins continued attacking inside in the second half, with Osborne knocking down a pair of free throws after a foul on Thierry. 

UCLA then began hitting on all cylinders, with the three-ball coming to life in the third period. Forward Angela Dugalic knocked down the Bruins’ first three with 7:28, leading Osborne to hit two of her own as UCLA quickly jumped out to a 20-point lead. 

On the other hand, the Buckeyes, who’d hit three 3-pointers in the first half, went ice cold, going 1-of-5 from beyond the arc. 

However, Ohio State quickly turned the tables, with Sheldon at the helm. Turnovers, which have been Buckeye opponents’ kryptonite for the past two seasons, peaked against the Bruins. 

The Buckeyes forced seven turnovers in the fourth quarter and scored nine on the opposite end. 

Sheldon and Thierry combined for 19 points as they helped put together a 26-8 run during the final five minutes. A 3-pointer from Thierry cut the deficit to 10, but Osborne countered with one of her own.  

The Buckeyes attempted to apply their full-court press, but the Bruins’ elusive guards were able to break it with ease as the clock hit zero. 

Ohio State will look to get back into the win column Friday afternoon as it faces Belmont at home. The game will be televised on Big Ten Plus at 1 p.m.