Mavunga leads No. 8 Ohio St. over Maine

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff wrote four numbers on the whiteboard inside the Buckeyes’ locker room after the game. Eight, 16, 21, 25 — the number of points Maine scored in each quarter.

Stephanie Mavunga scored 26 points, Sierra Calhoun added 16 and No. 8 Ohio State beat Maine 83-70 on Sunday, but the more athletic and physically imposing Buckeyes never asserted dominance.

“We got to get better on defense. We’re not playing defense at all,” Mavunga said. “We let girls come in here and get 25, 30 points or whatever they want to do against us. We really got to be defensively sound. We haven’t been doing that.”

Julie Brosseau had a career-high 29 points for the Black Bears (4-4), shooting 10 for 18 from the field and knocking down seven 3s. Tanesha Sutton registered a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds.

Mavunga made 11 of 12 field goals and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Buckeyes (8-2). Her sixth double-double of the year came early in the second quarter when she notched her 10th point after playing only nine minutes.

The Buckeyes had difficulty shooting the ball for much of the game and never solidified a tempo at which they’re accustomed to playing. McGuff said the execution in the first half wasn’t great, but the effort was there. The second half was much different on offense, which is when the defense regressed.

“We just didn’t sustain anything good for any long stretches today,” he said. “And I think that was the biggest problem.”

With 5:02 remaining in the third quarter, Asia Doss gave her team a spark with back-to-back steals and layups to punctuate a quick 7-0 run and lift the Ohio State lead to 16.