The No. 2 Iowa women’s basketball team fell to the No. 18 Ohio State Buckeyes, 100-92, at The Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio, on Sunday afternoon.

Iowa was led by star guard Caitlin Clark who finished with a season-high 45 points while also grabbing three rebounds. Guard Molly Davis and center Hannah Stuelke were Iowa’s next leading scorers with 14 and 10, respectively.

The Buckeyes came into the game riding a four-game win streak and possessed the third-best record in the Big Ten at 14-3 behind All-Big Ten guard Jacy Sheldon, who leads Ohio State in points and steals per game at 17.2 and 2.2, respectively.

Stuelke returned to the starting lineup for Iowa after a lingering injury, and after losing the tip-off, got the first three points for Iowa on an and-one bucket and foul by Ohio State’s Celeste Taylor. This was followed up by a nice transition layup from Stuelke on the assist from Davis.

It was back-and-fourth for most of the first quarter, though, with Buckeyes guard Rikki Harris going shot-for-shot on three-pointers with Clark as the former hit two and the latter hit three in the opening period. The Hawkeyes led, 26-24, at the end of the first quarter.

The Buckeyes opened the second quarter with a three-pointer from guard Taylor Thierry. A couple of possessions later, Clark found Martin underneath the basket on a full-court pass, and she finished with the layup.

Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff would call a timeout after Martin hit a three-point shot off of an assist from Davis. Martin ended the quarter with eight points but was subbed out with just over two minutes to go as she picked up three fouls. 

Ohio State was still able to keep it close going into the second half with Sheldon hitting a pair of threes in the second quarter and showcasing her skills defensively, drawing a charge on Martin.

Heading into halftime, Iowa led, 45-43, with both teams committing seven turnovers and 11 fouls. 

Second half stalled

Iowa opened up the third quarter with a three from Clark on an out-of-bounds play that was followed up with a three from Ohio State’s Taylor. Later, Martin picked up her fourth personal foul on another charge.

A few possessions later, Iowa center Addison O’Grady would convert on the and-one play after a shooting foul by Sheldon and continued her effort on the defensive end with a block on the Buckeyes’ Rebeka Mikulasikova. With four minutes remaining in the third, O’Grady forced an Ohio State timeout after scoring again underneath, extending Iowa’s lead to six, 58-52. 

However, the Buckeyes went on a run to end the quarter with guard Emma Shumate coming off the bench to hit two three-pointers. Iowa went into the fourth up, 65-58. 

Clark got the Hawkeyes started early in the final period, hitting her sixth three-pointer of the game to give Iowa a 10-point lead. Ohio State was not out of it entirely, though, as the Buckeyes shortened Iowa’s lead to three after going on a seven-point run, and OSU forward Cotie McMahon — who finished the game with 33 points — tied it up at 73 apiece on a layup with just under five minutes remaining. 

McMahon picked up her fourth foul on Stuelke, but the second-year center was unsuccessful on both free throw attempts. On the next possession, Taylor gave Ohio State the lead with a layup, but it did not last long as Clark made it 78-77 in favor of Iowa with three minutes remaining. 

At 1:21 remaining in the game, Clark went to the free throw line after a foul by Harris and extended Iowa’s lead to three after converting on both attempts.

Two possessions later, with 40 seconds remaining, Taylor drove to the left side of the bucket and gave Ohio State the lead with 15 seconds remaining on a contested layup. After a timeout by Bluder, Clark quickly drove down the court and missed on a layup attempt, but Stuelke rebounded it and earned a foul upon attempting to put it back. 

In a roaring Schottenstein Center experiencing record-breaking attendance, Stuelke went one-of-two from the line to tie it up at 83 apiece. The game went to overtime after a missed three-pointer from Sheldon.

OT

McMahon scored the opening bucket of overtime on a post move over Stuelke to make the game 85-83 in favor of Ohio State. And on the Buckeyes’ next possession, Stuelke picked up her fifth foul of the game, and McMahon went to the line to make one of two. 

McMahon continued her dominance, scoring three points on an and-one conversion after a foul by Clark. With all the momentum in Ohio State’s favor, Clark hit a three with 2:19 remaining in overtime to cut it the lead.

However, the Hawkeyes couldn’t seem to get a stop on defense with the Buckeyes going on a five-point run after a layup from Sheldon and a three from Mikulasikova.

And with 27 seconds remaining, Clark made it 92-98 after hitting two free throws after a foul by Ohio State’s Madison Greene — however, it was too late, and Iowa lost, 100-92, snapping a 15-game winning streak.

Up next

Iowa, now 18-2, returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 27, at home against the 13-5 overall Nebraska Cornhuskers.