Recap: UConn women’s basketball edges out Ohio State, 73-62

UConn women’s basketball grinded out a 73-62 victory in Columbus, Ohio on Sunday afternoon. Ohio State played the Huskies tight throughout three quarters, but the Huskies were able to pull away in the final quarter.

Crystal Dangerfield led the way for the Huskies, scoring a season high 23 points on 8-15 shooting, including four triples. She had UConn’s last six points to close out the win, and also added six rebounds and six assists in the contest.

UConn started out rather cold on offense, hitting just two of their first seven shots. Five minutes into the game, UConn had just five points and trailed by two. The Huskies traded baskets with the Buckeyes for rest of first quarter, to close out the first ten minutes with a one point lead. The Huskies were particularly plagued by cold shooting from beyond the arc, shooting 0-5 in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, UConn and Ohio State traded leads, The Huskies were finally able to get on board from three, but continued to struggle to get out in transition and get the offense flowing. They closed out on 2:38 scoring drought, and headed into the locker room up by two thanks to Kyla Irwin taking the charge on the Buckeye’s final bucket.

The Huskies were uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball, committing seven first half turnovers. Turnovers continued to be a problem for UConn throughout the game. They finished with 14, which led to 11 points for Ohio State. A stretch of three-straight turnovers in the fourth quarter nearly jeopardized UConn’s lead, but fortunately the Buckeyes were not able to capitalize on them.

To start the second half, UConn quickly fell into a five-point hole. They clawed there way out of it, thanks largely to a few key buckets from Christyn Williams who finished with 20 points. The Huskies closed the third quarter on 7-2 run to take a six point lead into the final 10 minutes. They extended the lead to as much as 11 during the fourth quarter, which Ohio State chipped away at, but ultimately Dangerfield finished the game strong for UConn to win by double digits.

Olivia Nelson-Ododa had another strong game on the glass, finishing with 12 rebounds for UConn. Auriemma noted in his post-game interview that she is playing with a fractured toe, making her presence on the glass today even more impressive. Six of her boards were offensive, but consistent with the Huskies’ offensive struggles all game long, they converted only basket’s worth of second chance points.

Up next, UConn will continue their Ohio road trip at Dayton on Tuesday night.