Down 24 in first half, Ohio State storms back to beat No. 2 Indiana in Big Ten semifinals

Indiana's resume and regular-season title in arguably the best league in women's college basketball this season could lead to a top seed in the NCAA tournament. But the second-ranked Hoosiers won't be playing in the Big Ten tournament title game.

Fourth-seeded Ohio State outscored top-seeded Indiana by 25 points in the second half and forced 18 turnovers in a 79-75 upset victory Saturday at Target Center.

"This is a team that's won 27 games," Indiana coach Teri Moren said. "We have three hiccups. They've had a great year."

Trailing by 24 points in the second quarter, though, the 14th-ranked Buckeyes (25-6) turned things around. According to the Big Ten, that tied a conference record for biggest comeback victory in a women's basketball game.

"That was pretty wild," Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. "[The Hoosiers are] well-coached, they're very organized and they have mature, older players who don't get rattled. And so, to be able to come back against such a great team is really something special."

The Hoosiers (27-3) were cruising with a 49-26 lead when they were outscored 25-6 in the third quarter. Ohio State's full-court press forced 14 turnovers in the second half that led to 19 points. Taylor Thierry led five Buckeyes players with 19 points.

"It's going to sting for a couple days," said Grace Berger, who led Indiana with 20 points. "But once we get practicing back this week, I think we'll use it as motivation for sure."

Stillwater's Sara Scalia had 15 points for Indiana. Rochester native Lilly Meister, who had six points, scored on a put-back to make it 68-58 Hoosiers in the fourth quarter. But Ohio State used a 14-3 run to take its first lead since the first quarter at 72-71 on Taylor Mikesell's three-point play off a spinning layup at the 3:12 mark.

Mackenzie Holmes gave Indiana its final lead 75-74 with under a minute in regulation, but Ohio State responded with Rikki Harris' shot off the glass with 38 seconds to play. Mikesell made one of two free throws to make it 77-75.

In the regular season, the Hoosiers swept the series between the teams, including an 83-59 win in Columbus on Feb. 13. That blowout loss certainly was on the mind of Buckeyes, who outscored Indiana 54-29 in the second half Saturday.

Scalia scored 12 points for the Hoosiers in the second quarter as part of a 16-0 run to give them their largest lead at 46-22 just before halftime.

Ohio State was tied with Michigan 76-76 late in the fourth quarter in Friday night's quarterfinals before the Buckeyes scored five unanswered points to give themselves a slight cushion in an 81-79 victory. Having a veteran presence helped down the stretch.

Senior Jacy Sheldon missed two months because of an undisclosed injury, but she returned to the lineup early last month after averaging 14.2 points earlier this season. Sheldon had 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench Saturday, including eight points and two steals in the fourth quarter.

"That was awesome," Sheldon said. "That was a great team win force us. Our effort in the second half was awesome. We played together, and it showed. We're happy about the win, but we're not done."