Cooper's 18 points lead No. 10 Ohio State over Cincinnati
CINCINNATI (AP) The shots weren't falling in the first half for Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell. That's unusual for last week's national Player of the Week - she came into Sunday against her hometown school averaging 26 points per game.
Everything fell into place in the second half for Mitchell and the 10th-ranked Buckeyes and they outscored Cincinnati 60-38 en route to a 105-76 win.
Mitchell score 14 of her 16 points in the second half and added five assists while the Buckeyes bounced back from a 75-72 loss at No. 3 Notre Dame on Wednesday by topping the century mark for the second time this season.
Ohio State shot 58 percent (29 of 50) from the field in the final three quarters after falling behind by six in the first quarter. Mitchell missed all five field goal attempts she took in the first half but was 5 of 10 in the second half in helping the Buckeyes improve to 5-3.
Mitchell has now scored in double figures in 42 of 43 games in her career.
''I'm always happy when everybody can score and everybody can get themselves in a rhythm and get things going for them,'' Mitchell said. ''Offensively, things didn't go right for me in the first half. They kind of didn't in the second half but none of that matters when we can get a win and everyone is happy and everyone can contribute to a big win.''
Shayla Cooper scored all of her season-high 18 points in the first half to lead six Ohio State players in double figures. She played just 1 minute in the second half after suffering an apparent injury. Coach Kevin McGuff declined to elaborate on Cooper's absence.
Ameryst Alston had 16 points and nine assists, while Alexa Hart added 14 points and nine rebounds. Cait Craft and Makayla Waterman each had 11 points.
Cincinnati sophomore guard Ana Owens scored a career-high 35 points, including making 5 of 8 3-pointers, while Jasmine Whitfield added 18 points and Bianca Quisenberry had her first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Cincinnati (3-4) jumped to a 12-6 lead in the opening 5 minutes behind three 3-pointers, including two by Owens. Ohio State didn't take its first lead of the game until Cooper scored on a short shot with 19 seconds left in the opening quarter to put the Buckeyes ahead 20-18.
Ohio State led by as many as nine in the second quarter before finally settling for a 45-38 advantage at halftime. Cincinnati outrebounded Ohio State 24-19 and had made seven 3-pointers by halftime.
''We came out strong. We didn't worry about them being ranked or how good they were, we just came out fighting,'' Owen said.
Ohio State outscored Cincinnati 33-20 in the third quarter to take control of the game. The Buckeyes had a 50-24 advantage in points in the paint for the game.
''The first play of the second half, Kelsey races it down the court and they have to help and she dumps it off to Alexa for a layup,'' McGuff said. ''That was good stuff to see.''
TIP-INS
Ohio State: The Buckeyes are now 151-22 against other teams from Ohio. They are 17-4 all-time against Cincinnati.
Cincinnati: The Bearcats have trailed at halftime of all seven of their games this season and have lost four in a row.
UP NEXT
Ohio State: Hosts North Carolina A&T on Dec. 13.
Cincinnati: At Xavier on Dec. 13.
