The Orange and Blue traveled on the road to Ohio State to face their first opponent of the season. The Bison posted a strong first half effort, holding the Buckeyes to just 27.6 percent shooting and just a four point lead. Ultimately, the Buckeyes pulled away in the second half to defeat the Bison 71-48.

The Buckeyes improved their shooting percentage in the second half, averaging 55.6 percent on shots. They put away 5-of-12 from behind the arc. The Orange and Blue shot 34.6 percent for the game. They were even with the Buckeyes in rebounds at 36 apiece. The main issue for the Bison was turnovers, as 20 of them led to 18 points for the Buckeyes. They were not as successful from behind the arc, managing just 2-of-11 attempts from 3-point range. 

Senior Taylor O’Brien ’22 led the Bison with 17 points. O’Brien shot 6-of-13 with one from behind the arc. Emma Shaffer ’24 led the Orange and Blue in rebounds with seven. Cecelia Collins ’25 finished second in points with eight on 4-of-7 shooting (57%) and had four rebounds.

Captain Marly Walls ’22 explained that, “We went out and battled hard, especially in the first half. We knew they were going to be a strong Power 5 opponent, but we felt prepared to face them. There were a lot of good takeaways from the game, and we definitely found some things that we need to work on.”

“We look forward to getting back to work and improving for our upcoming games,” she continued.

The turnovers from the Bison gave the Buckeyes an early 20-7 lead. The Orange and Blue then went on a 15-0 run to bring the game back to 20-14. The Bison even took the lead in the second corner at 22-20, but shots began to fall again for the Buckeyes who took a 28-24 lead. The Bison limited the Buckeyes to 3-of-17 (17.6%) from the field in the second quarter. 

The transition defense became a problem for the Bison in the second half. The Buckeyes were able to pull away and went up by as many as 25 in the final frame.

The Orange and Blue will take the lessons learned from the game against the Buckeyes and continue to work for their upcoming game against Fairleigh Dickinson. The Bison travel to face the Knights in their second game of the season on Wednesday, Nov 17. The game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m.