Numbers and reactions behind Ohio State's upset of UConn

March 26, 2023 ndowd

The Ohio State Buckeyes women’s team punched its ticket to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1993 with a 73-61 victory over the UConn Huskies.

The Buckeyes’ own Twitter account was among the first to excitedly weigh in on the big win — and spell check couldn’t even slow them down.

Got too excited and spelled Elite wrong but the point still stands! 🙌😅

— Ohio State WBB (@OhioStateWBB) March 25, 2023

On the court, though, OSU quickly figured out how to slow down the Huskies.

Here’s a look at some numbers behind the Buckeyes’ win.

18: On first half plays starting with the press, seven UConn players shot 1-for-7 with 11 turnovers on 18 plays. This led to Ohio State’s defense forcing 18 turnovers at halftime.

25: Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson took note of the Buckeyes’ game plan, which included forcing 25 total turnovers.

Ohio State’s pressing defense forced UConn into 25 turnovers in the Buckeyes’s 73-61 victory! Cotie McMahon led the team with 23 points and Jacy Sheldon added another 17. @OhioStateWBB

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) March 25, 2023

608: UConn finished the season with 608 turnovers, its most in a season since 2002-03 (619).

16: This ends a 16-year streak for UConn making the Elite Eight. It was the longest such streak in men’s or women’s NCAA tournament history. This is the first time since 1999 that the Elite Eight won’t have Stanford or UConn in the field.

14: Saturday’s loss also snaps the Huskies’ 14-year streak of making the Final Four, also the longest such streak in men’s or women’s tournament history.

Renee Montgomery, who won a national championship with the Huskies in 2009 and is currently part owner and vice president of the Atlanta Dream, still showed love to her alma mater.

Really wanted our squad to go all the way but I’m always a proud alum and will forever #BleedBlue

— Renee Montgomery (@ReneeMontgomery) March 25, 2023

4: Meanwhile, the Ohio State faithful celebrated the program making its fourth Elite Eight appearance.