Ohio State-Canisius 2016 women’s basketball final score: OSU rolls to 89-56 win

Ohio State women’s basketball won its third game in a row and improved to 8-3 on the season on Sunday afternoon with a 89-56 victory over Canisius at Value City Arena in Columbus. The winning streak comes on the heels of back-to-back losses to Baylor and Miami that had dropped the team to No. 12 in the national rankings.

Kelsey Mitchell continued her assault on the Buckeyes’ record books, scoring 19 points and passing both Samantha Prahalis and Tayler Hill to move into fifth in program history in career scoring with 2,019. She’ll next set her sights on former teammate Ameryst Alston, who is No. 4 on the list with 2,165.

Despite a dismal 3-for-18 shooting performance from three-point range, Ohio State shot 51.5 percent from the floor for the game, powered by 21 Golden Griffins’ turnovers and a 52-16 points in the paint advantage.

Tori McCoy joined Mitchell in double figures, scoring 17 and grabbing 11 rebounds, as did Kiara Lewis with 10 points. Makayla Waterman added nine points and nine boards, while Asia Doss and Sierra Calhoun each contributed nine points of their own.

Ohio State came out clicking on both ends of the court, using seven Canisius turnovers and a 22-5 run to jump out to a 31-18 lead after one quarter. Mitchell started fast, scoring nine points in the frame, as the Buckeyes went 12-for-18 (66.7 percent) from the floor.

Sara Hinriksdottir had seven first quarter points to lead the Griffins, who if not for a 4-for-9 shooting performance from beyond the three-point line would’ve have found a much larger deficit.

A scoring drought of more than three minutes in the early second quarter by Canisius allowed Ohio State to extend the lead to 38-21, with McCoy and Calhoun getting involved in the offense.

The Buckeyes’ advantage in the paint showed itself, as they finished the first half outscoring the Griffins 28-4 down low en route to a 50-33 lead heading into the locker room. McCoy scored 11 points and pulled down five rebounds, while Waterman scored seven to go with six boards, as Ohio State shot 57 percent from the floor.

Mitchell led all scorers with 13 at the break, while Hinriksdottir had 10 to pace Canisius.

The second half started sluggishly. A Mitchell jumper three minutes in was the first Buckeye bucket, and after a quick five points to start out, the Griffins missed eight straight shots, failing to score for more than five minutes.

A Mitchell jumper with 5:05 remaining in the third quarter gave Ohio State a 58-35 lead, and moved her past Hill with her 2,017th career point. By the end of the period, the Buckeyes had run out to a 69-44 advantage and effectively put the game away.

The Griffins went through another five-minute scoring drought in the fourth as Ohio State rolled. Hinriksdottir had a team-high 14 points, while Sarah Cooley added 11.

Up next for the Buckeyes is a home game on Friday night against Alabama State, which tips off at 7 p.m. ET. Beyond that, the squad has its biggest test of the season with road game against Connecticut, the top-ranked team in the country, the following Monday.