Jaloni Cambridge Scores 22 and Elsa Lemmilä Posts a Double-Double as No. 18 Ohio State Opens With 81-34 Rout of UIC

COLUMBUS, Ohio. For the first few minutes of the season, UIC looked like it belonged. The Flames scored first, and the game was tied at 5 and again at 7. Then Ohio State scored the last 20 points of the first quarter, and the night turned into a showcase for the No. 18 Buckeyes, who opened their season with an 81-34 win over UIC on Monday, Nov. 2, at the Schottenstein Center.

Jaloni Cambridge led Ohio State with 22 points and nine rebounds. Elsa Lemmilä posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Sydney Mobley scored 14 off the bench in a collegiate debut. The Buckeyes forced 25 turnovers and held UIC to 24 percent shooting.

Here is the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab) and Ohio State's recap (opens in a new tab).

A 20-0 run ends the suspense

The opening minutes were even. UIC opened the scoring and twice had the game tied, the second time at 7-7. What followed was the kind of stretch that defines a mismatch. Ohio State scored the final 20 points of the quarter, and UIC did not score over the last 5:32 of the period. The Buckeyes led 27-7 after 10 minutes.

The Flames did break the drought early in the second quarter with back-to-back layups. Ohio State answered with the next 11 points to go up 38-11 with about seven minutes left in the half, then closed the half with the final 12 points. Stretched across both quarters, it was a 23-2 run, and Ohio State took a 50-13 lead into the locker room.

The halftime score said plenty about the gap between the teams. So did one detail from the Ohio State recap: early in the second quarter, Jaloni Cambridge alone had 12 points while UIC had 11 as a team.

Lemmilä owns the paint

The most efficient player on the floor was Lemmilä. Lemmilä made 5 of 6 shots and 5 of 6 free throws for 15 points, pulled down 11 rebounds, six of them on the offensive glass, and blocked three shots in 21 minutes. According to Ohio State, it was the eighth double-double of Lemmilä's career.

That inside presence was the foundation for everything else. Ohio State outrebounded UIC 54-35. Kylee Kitts added seven points, nine rebounds, four of them offensive, two assists and a block, and Seini Henry pulled down five in 10 minutes off the bench.

Cambridge sets the pace, Mobley debuts

Jaloni Cambridge's line was a full one. In 28 minutes, Cambridge shot 7 of 16 from the field, 3 of 8 from 3-point range and 5 of 6 at the line, with nine rebounds and three assists.

Kennedy Cambridge, Jaloni's sister, scored 10 points on 5 of 7 shooting with six rebounds and three steals. One of those steals was the 200th of Kennedy Cambridge's career, according to Ohio State.

The most encouraging performance may have come from the end of the bench. Mobley made 7 of 11 shots for 14 points in 16 minutes, adding two blocks and two steals. For a first college game, it was about as smooth a start as Ohio State could have asked for, and it gave the Buckeyes a third scorer behind Cambridge and Lemmilä.

Bryn Martin added five points on 2 of 3 shooting, including a 3, and Ava Watson handed out four assists.

The third quarter, and what needs work

Watson opened the second half with a 3-pointer, and later in the quarter three straight layups pushed the lead to 64-19. UIC scored the last eight points of the third quarter and actually came close to matching Ohio State in the period, which the Buckeyes won only 18-16. The lead after three was 68-29.

Ohio State responded by scoring the first nine points of the fourth quarter to go up 77-29, and UIC did not score in the period until there were 2:44 left. Mobley finished the night with a layup for the final points.

The shooting numbers show where the work is. Ohio State made 31 of 73 shots, 42.5 percent, and only 6 of 31 from 3-point range, 19.4 percent. Watson, a starter, went 2 of 10 from deep, and Adriana Diaz and Atlee Vanesko combined to go 0 for 6 from beyond the arc. The Buckeyes also went 13 of 17 at the line.

Against UIC, the cold shooting did not matter, because the rebounding and defense covered for it. Against better opponents, 6 of 31 from 3 will be a problem.

What did not need work was the defense. UIC committed 25 turnovers, and Ohio State finished with 10 steals and eight blocks. Kennedy Cambridge had three steals, Mobley and Diaz had two apiece, and Lemmilä led the blocked shots with three.

The Flames struggled to get anything clean. UIC shot 14 of 58 from the field, 24.1 percent, and 2 of 20 from 3-point range. It had only five assists all night. The Flames attempted just five free throws and made four, a sign that Ohio State defended without fouling much, committing just 12 fouls as a team.

The pressure touched almost everyone in a UIC uniform. Tutu Clayton committed five turnovers, Magdalena Winter and Salma Khedr had three apiece, and nine different Flames turned it over at least once. UIC's five starters combined for 22 points on 10 of 42 shooting. Nevaeh Foster played 30 minutes and went 1 of 7, and Miyah Brown went 0 for 5 in 24 minutes.

UIC searches for answers

Julia Coleman led UIC with 10 points, though it took 14 shots to get there. Coleman went 1 for 1 from 3-point range and pulled down four rebounds. Tutu Clayton scored six with five rebounds in a team-high 31 minutes, but also committed five turnovers. Aileen Becerril Landeros added five off the bench, and Magdalena Winter had four points and six rebounds, four of them offensive. Evyn Carrier pulled down six rebounds in 13 minutes. Lyla Kahrimanovic hit UIC's other 3-pointer and added two steals and a block in 14 minutes off the bench.

The Flames had their best stretch at the end of the third quarter, with that 8-0 run, but they could not sustain it. Ohio State controlled the boards, and the Flames never strung together enough stops to make the Buckeyes uncomfortable.

What it means and what is next

For a ranked team opening against a mid-major, the result was what it should have been: a big win, real minutes for the rotation and a defense that set the tone. Ten Buckeyes played, and nine of them played at least 10 minutes. The double-double from Lemmilä and the debut from Mobley were the two biggest positives. The split between the halves tells the story of the night: Ohio State won the first half 50-13 and the second 31-21. Starters scored 60 of the 81 points, and the bench, led by Mobley, added 21. The Buckeyes assisted on 16 of their 31 baskets and committed 14 turnovers, 11 fewer than UIC.

The 3-point shooting is the obvious item for the to-do list. So is the third-quarter lull that let UIC win a stretch of the game. Neither cost Ohio State anything on Monday, but both will matter later this month.

The Buckeyes stay home for their next game, against Central Michigan on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. UIC, a Missouri Valley Conference program, fell to 0-1.

For more on the Buckeyes, read our recap of Ohio State's 103-36 win over Central Michigan and visit our Ohio State team page.

Sources: ESPN box score, Ohio State Athletics.

Photo: Ohio State Athletics.