No. 16 Ohio State women roll past No. 20 Tennessee 78-58 in Jimmy V Women’s Classic

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Cotie McMahon scored 19 points, Rebeka Mikulasikova added 18, and No. 16 Ohio State blasted No. 20 Tennessee 78-58 on Sunday in the Jimmy V Women’s Classic.

McMahon scored all of her points in the first half and the Buckeyes were rarely threatened in building a 45-28 lead at the break. The lead first reached 20 when Celeste Taylor hit a jumper near the 3-minute mark of the third quarter and Tennessee never mounted a serious threat in the fourth quarter.

Taylor scored 15 points and Jacy Sheldon contributed 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals. Taylor Thierry, the fifth OSU starter, scored nine points.

Destinee Wells led Tennessee with 11 points off the bench and Sara Puckett scored 10.

Ohio State had leads of 9-2 and 20-7 in the first quarter before the Lady Vols shut them down for the final 3:58 of the quarter, drawing within 20-15.

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Tess Darby’s 3-pointer drew the Lady Vols to within 24-20 but McMahon came right back with a 3-pointer for Ohio State and the Buckeyes led by at least seven for the remainder of the half.

Tennessee has played five ranked teams in eight games and have played the last six without leading scorer Rickea Jackson, who was averaging 22 points before being sidelined with an injury.

The game was one of three in the Jimmy V Women’s Classic on Sunday. In the other two, No. 10 Texas defeated No. 11 UConn 80-68 and No. 1 South Carolina defeated Duke 77-61.

Ohio State hosts Ohio on Tuesday and Tennessee plays Middle Tennessee in Huntsville, Alabama, on Wednesday.

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