WBB2K22: Hoops Report 20

Dec. 15

No. 24 Ohio State 97, Alabama State 51

Alabama State (1-6) tried as hard as it could but the visitors struggled with Ohio State's (8-2) size and the shooting of Taylor Mikesell as the Buckeyes won by 46 points.

Mikesell drained seven of her 16 three-point attempts. She led all players with 27 points, which is the 5-11 senior's season high in scoring. She entered the game averaging 16.1 points per game and has scored over 20 points on just one other occasion. Mikesell's previous season best was a 21-point effort in a loss to Syracuse.

Ohio State 6-4 forward Rebeka Mikulasikova was a force upfront for the Buckeyes. She grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots to go along with 12 points. This was the junior's first double-double of the year. She entered the game with just two blocked shots in her first 10 games of the season before recording her season high three rejections.

Reserve Rikki Harris had her best performance of the season. She scored 12 points with six steals, three assists and three rebounds off of the Ohio State bench.

Freshman Brazyll Watkins had her best game of her young career for Alabama State. She posted 11 points in 21 minutes off of the bench. Previously she had only scored four points in her first three contests. She'd also only played a combined 20 minutes in all of those games. Watkins shot 4-9 from the field and 3-3 from the free-throw line.

Alabama State starting guard Dakiyah Sanders also had a solid night as she collected a team best four steals to go along with another team high of five assists with just two turnovers. Sanders also scored eight points, making half of her four shot attempts.

No. 16 South Florida 69, Stetson 50

Stetson led South Florida 19-17 after one quarter but things turned upside down in the second quarter.

The host South Florida outscored Stetson 20-6 in the second period and took control of the game outscoring Stetson 32-25 over the final two quarters to avoid any kind of upset. Elisa Penzan scored 12 points with six assists to lead South Florida in both categories.

Shae Leverett had a strong game off of the bench with 10 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two steals for South Florida. Leverett shot a perfect 3-3 overall and 4-4 from the free-throw line. Bethy Mununga, a usual starter for South Florida, came off of the bench to share the team lead in rebounds with nine boards. She also blocked two shots and scored six points.

Elena Tsineke shot 4-7 off of the bench for the winners as she posted 10 points for the winners. Stetson was led in scoring by Tippy Robertson who shot 2-3 from three on her way to 12 points.

Minnesota 99, Ohio 93

Big Ten competitor Minnesota (7-6) held off a strong fourth quarter charge by Ohio University (4-3) of the Mid-American Conference in a narrow six-point home win.

Junior guard Jasmine Powell had a near triple-double for the Golden Gophers. She scored 18 points with 11 rebounds and nine assists. It was her first double-double of the season. Minnesota's Sara Scalia scored 37 points to lead all players.

Ohio had two players with at least 20 points. Forward Erica Johnson scored 21 points with eight assists. Guard CeCe Hooks had 20 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. Ohio played just six players. All but one scored 16 or more points.

Cincinnati 63, Chattanooga 52

Braylyn Milton guided Cincinnati (6-4) to a road win over Chattanooga (1-10). The 6-0 freshman guard scored 18 points shooting a season best 6-10 from the floor. It marked her second double-digit performance of the season. She scored 19 points against Ole Miss on Dec. 5.

Malea Williams came off of the bench to grab a game high 10 rebounds for Cincinnati. She also scored nine points just missing a double-double. Starting point guard Akira Levy scored 14 points with five assists and three steals. Guard Jillian Hayes went scoreless but led the team with a season high five steals. She has stolen the ball eight times in the last two games. Hayes also had seven rebounds.