Ohio State’s season ends with third straight second-round exit in loss to Notre Dame

Gabe Eaker
Tue, 24 Mar 2026 01:26:37 +0000
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Chance Gray (2) waves to the crowd after her final game as an Ohio State Buckeye after a second round loss to Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament. Credit: Cassandra D’Angelo | Lantern Photographer.

Three years, same result.

For the third consecutive season, Ohio State’s NCAA Tournament run ended in the second round—this time in a 83-73 loss to Notre Dame Monday at the Schottenstein Center.

The defeat marks the first time in tournament history a team has hosted three straight years and failed to reach the Sweet 16 each time.

After a fiery first quarter, the No. 3-seed Ohio State Buckeyes fell to the No. 6-seed Notre Dame Fighting Irish 83-73 Monday, ending their season in the round of 32.

“At this time of year, high-level execution has got to be a part of the equation to winning. I think they executed better than we did,” head coach Kevin McGuff said.

Despite the final score, the Buckeyes’ beginning frame saw success, especially from Ohio State’s dynamic sophomore guard.

Within the first minute, Jaloni Cambridge pushed the ball in transition and hit a pull-up mid-range jumper. Soppy early sets on offense plagued Notre Dame, allowing Cambridge to drop seven points within the first two minutes.

The Fighting Irish called a timeout at 8:18 in the first quarter, down 9-0, in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

That was the peak of the evening for the Buckeyes.

After converting on its first five shots, Ohio State ended the first quarter leading 22-20, powered by nine points from Cambridge, the Big Ten’s regular-season scoring leader.

At 7:56 in the second, Vanessa de Jesus’ layup gave the Fighting Irish a lead that would continue for the remainder of the game. Notre Dame took a 43-35 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Buckeyes only attempted four three-pointers in the first half and finished the game with 15, tied for their second-lowest in a game all season.

Carrying momentum into the second half, de Jesus’ two-pointer gave Notre Dame a cushion of 11 at the start of the third.

Cambridge answered at 6:31 with a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the lead to 50-42.

Ava Watson’s corner 3-pointer stamped the exclamation mark on a 10-point Ohio State run at 4:50, cutting the deficit to three.

Two Notre Dame 3-pointers, sandwiched around a Cambridge jumper early in the fourth quarter, zapped the energy out of the Buckeye faithful in the Schottenstein Center.

Cambridge’s early jumper was Ohio State’s only field goal over the next seven and a half minutes, sinking any chance the Buckeyes had at a Sweet 16 appearance.

The Buckeyes finished with 21 giveaways, their second most this season, fueling one of the ACC’s most efficient offenses.

“We had too many live-ball turnovers,” McGuff said. “They got a lot of easy baskets in transition because of that, and we just couldn’t overcome it.”

Cambridge finished with a career-high 41 points in addition to contributing seven rebounds and two assists.

She was the only Buckeye to score in double digits.

“Forty-one doesn’t matter with an L,” Cambridge said. “You want to win. If I could have scored zero and got a win, I would have been satisfied.”

Senior guard Chance Gray finished second in scoring with nine points in her final game of her collegiate career.

“I wouldn’t trade the world for playing with [Gray],” Cambridge said. “I would do it again in every lifetime if I get a chance. I love her to death, and I wish her the best in success in everything she does in her career.”

With departures like Gray’s, uncertainty looms over the Buckeyes going into the offseason following another early exit.

“If we can keep the core of this group together and keep growing and getting better, we could really end up in some great places,” McGuff said. “But it’s just not easy just saying that.”

The article was edited on March 24 at 9:38 a.m. to fix the final score.