No. 13 Ohio State women ease by Belmont behind Jacy Sheldon's second straight 30-point performance

Dec 22, 2023, 08:00 pm

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- — Jacy Sheldon scored 31 points and made five 3-pointers for her second straight 30-plus game, and No. 13 Ohio State beat Belmont 84-55 on Friday.

Sheldon, who notched her second 30-point performance of the season on Monday in a 77-71 loss to No. 2 UCLA, was 12 of 18 from the floor, including 5 of 9 from beyond the arc against Belmont.

Sheldon scored 18 points in the first half, only missing three of her 10 field-goal attempts, to help Ohio State take a 38-28 lead into the break. It was the first double-digit lead of the game. Celeste Taylor opened the second half with a 3-pointer and Ohio State's lead didn't drop below 13 points the rest of the way.

Ohio State led by 20-plus for the entire fourth quarter as Belmont shot just 1 for 12.

Taylor added 15 points and Rikki Harris scored 10 for Ohio State (10-2). Taylor Thierry had nine points and nine rebounds.

The Buckeyes faced coach Kevin McGuff’s oldest daughter, Kilyn, who averaged nearly 17 points as a senior at Bishop Watterson High School in Columbus. She entered averaging 11.3 points per game and 6.8 rebounds, and finished with four points on 2-of-10 shooting.

Tessa Miller led Belmont (7-4), which was riding a five-game win streak, with 15 points. Kendal Cheesman added 13 points. All five of Belmont’s starters entered averaging double figures. Tuti Jones had just three points and Jailyn Banks added seven.

Belmont is 1-33 all-time against ranked opponents — with the lone victory coming in the 2021 NCAA Tournament when the Bruins ousted 14th-ranked and fifth-seeded Gonzaga 64-59 in the first round.

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