Mitchell has 25, No. 15 Ohio State women top Minnesota 88-76

Jan 26, 2017, 10:23 pm

MINNEAPOLIS -- Kelsey Mitchell scored 25 points, Shayla Cooper added 18 on 8-of-10 shooting and No. 15 Ohio State held off Minnesota 88-76 on Thursday night.

Stephanie Mavunga added 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Buckeyes (18-5, 8-1 Big Ten), who won their fourth straight with a 9-2 run early in the fourth quarter and closed with an 8-2 run.

Cooper had a 3-point play with 1:28 remaining to put Ohio State up 83-74. Mavunga followed with a free throw eight seconds later and a putback with a minute left after a pair of quick shots by the Golden Gophers, who missed their last six shots. That made it 86-74, the largest lead of the game.

Mitchell had a jumper and 3-pointer in the early surge, and after a Minnesota basket, hit another 3 to make it 76-65 with 5:26 left. Carlie Wagner had back-to-back 3s for Minnesota that cut the lead to 78-72 at 4:25.

Wagner finished with 34 points, four shy of her career best, and Kenisha Bell, who was 1 of 10 from the field and 10 of 12 from the line, had 12 for the Gophers (11-10, 2-6).