COLUMBUS, Ohio — Taylor Thierry scored a career-high 25 points and Taylor Mikesell added 21 to help No. 10 Ohio State beat Wisconsin 90-67 on Wednesday night, snapping the Buckeyes’ three-game losing skid.
Thierry also had seven rebounds for Ohio State (20-3, 9-3 Big Ten Conference), which started the season with 19 straight wins before losing three in a row.
“We needed to win a game, quite frankly,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. “Now we can calm down a little bit, and hopefully, get back to who we’ve been this year.”
Thierry, who entered the game averaging 13 points, said she’s becoming better at “letting the game come to me.” She enjoys feeding off the energy of Mikesell, a transfer who reached the 1,000-point mark in a Buckeyes uniform.
“She’s an amazing player and shooter, and teams like to try to take away her game on offense,” Thierry said. “That requires some of us to step up a bit.”
Serah Williams scored 23 points and Avery LaBarbera added 17 for Wisconsin (7-16, 2-9), which has lost five of its last six games.
Wisconsin coach Marisa Moseley was pleased with the Badgers’ effort, but said that there are many areas need work.
“We need to continue to clean up our turnovers,” Moseley said. “We moved the ball well and made we made some really great plays at different times. We need to put together four quarters. For our team to see that we’re competing with top-10 teams in the country is good.”
Ohio State scored 12 points off Wisconsin turnovers to take a 45-34 halftime lead. The Buckeyes finished with 24 points off Badgers’ miscues in the game.
But no lead was safe early in the second half for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes missed their first three shot attempts in the third quarter as Wisconsin used an 11-5 spurt to trim Ohio State’s lead to 50-49.
Badgers reserve Brooke Schramek capped the run with a 3-pointer. Cotie McMahon wouldn't let the Buckeyes lose, scorign 15 of her 19 points in the second half.
BIG PICTURE
Ohio State:. Thierry and Mikesell were effective on offense early. The duo combined for 23 first-half points on 7 for 13 shooting.
Wisconsin: The Badgers had a tough time taking care of the ball, which gave the Buckeyes an opportunity to increase their first-half lead. Wisconsin committed turnovers on six straight first-quarter possessions.
