The 15th-seeded University of Maine women’s basketball team got off to an impressive start in its NCAA Tournament opener on Friday afternoon, hitting its first five shots, including three 3-pointers by senior guard Olivia Rockwood, to take a 14-11 lead over second seed Ohio State at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
But the Buckeyes went on a 15-2 run to establish a firm foothold in the game, took a 43-24 lead into the intermission and cruised to an 80-57 victory.
The Big Ten regular season champion, now 26-5, put four players in double figures.
The Buckeyes will take on the winner of the Duke-Richmond game in a second round matchup in Columbus.
The America East regular season and tournament champion Black Bears finished up at 24-10 after having their six-game winning streak snapped.
UMaine is now 1-10 in the NCAA Tournament.
The scrappy Black Bears tried to claw their way back into the game in the third period, hitting seven consecutive shots, but couldn’t get any closer than 17 points.
The Buckeyes forced 13 first-half turnovers, leading to a 14-3 advantage in points off turnovers over the first 20 minutes.
UMaine wound up turning the ball over a season-high 22 times against Ohio State’s relentless full-court press.
OSU wound up with a 24-10 advantage in points off turnovers and a 15-2 edge in second-chance points thanks to its superior height.
UMaine head coach Amy Vachon said Ohio State forces turnovers against everyone.
“They’re one of the best teams in the country doing that. And you can’t really replicate that (in practice),” said Vachon, who added that it is rare to see a team press full court for an entire game.
She added that she felt her team did a “pretty job breaking the press” in the backcourt.
“A lot of our turnovers came in the half-court because they speed you up with the press,” said Vachon.
She said she was proud of her team and pointed out that they shot 52.3 percent from the floor.
“Unfortunately, (Ohio State) they shot over 50 percent, too,” said Vachon. “It was a good game.”
OSU shot 50.9 percent from the floor.
The Buckeyes, who have two All-Big Ten first team selections in Jacy Sheldon and Cotie McMahon and two second-team picks in Taylor Thierry and Celeste Taylor, had forced an average of 21.2 turnovers per game.
That was eighth-best in the country among 349 Division I schools.
UMaine had turned the ball over only 12.2 times per contest which was 12th lowest in the country.
Sheldon led the way for Ohio State with 19 points, four rebounds and four assists. McMahon had 13 points, Taylor had 12 points, six rebounds, six steals and five assists and Thierry had 12 points and five rebounds. Rebeka Mikulasikova chipped in with nine points, four rebounds and three assists.
UMaine graduate student guard Anne Simon poured in a game-high 25 points and the America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year moved into fifth place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,982 points. Rockwood finished with 15 points and Adrianna Smith had 11 points, six rebounds and six assists.
Smith suffered a sprained ankle late in the first half but came back and played in the second half after being helped off the court.
“She is a warrior,” said Vachon.
Sheldon and Thierry had 10 points apiece in the first half for Ohio State and Thierry also had four rebounds. Taylor had seven points and four steals and McMahon scored six points.
Rockwood’s nine points, Simon’s eight and Smith’s seven points paced UMaine in the first 20 minutes.
Simon said she was proud of the team for the determination it showed throughout the game.
“We never stopped fighting,” said Simon.