Ohio State needed to mount a big comeback to win its first-round game in the women’s N.C.A.A. tournament. On Monday against North Carolina, the Buckeyes needed to withstand one — and needed a shot from its senior leader to bail them out.
No. 3 seed Ohio State led by 12 points in the fourth quarter, but the sixth-seeded Tar Heels strung together an impressive rally and had tied the game with 9 seconds left.
That’s when Jacy Sheldon stepped up.
With time winding down, Sheldon took a pass on the wing, drove through traffic and pulled up for a floater in the paint. The shot went down with 1.8 seconds left, and Ohio State ended North Carolina’s tournament run, 71-69.
Ohio State seemed well in control before the game turned with just under seven minutes left. Deja Kelly, the Tar Heels’ leading scorer, was carried off the court with an injury, yet somehow North Carolina turned it on without her, scoring 9 straight points in just two minutes. Kelly came back and helped the Tar Heels take a 1-point lead, its first and only lead of the game.
Sheldon scored the next 3 points, with a layup and a separate free throw. Kelly then hit a jumper to tie the game, setting the stage for Sheldon’s finish.
In its first-round game, Ohio State trailed by 16 points to James Madison before eventually winning, 80-66, on its home court.
Sheldon played just six games during the regular season while battling a leg injury, but she returned for the Big Ten Conference tournament. She finished Monday’s game with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. — Sara Ziegler
Matchups to Watch
No. 1 Indiana vs. No. 9 Miami
8 p.m., ESPN2
Indiana easily dispatched Tennessee Tech on Saturday in its first N.C.A.A. tournament game as a No. 1 seed, led by 19 points from guard Sydney Parrish. Miami, on the other hand, needed a 17-point comeback in the second half to beat Oklahoma State. The Hoosiers are playing to get to their third consecutive round-of-16 game, while Miami has made the second weekend only once. The universities met in the second round of this year’s men’s tournament as well.
No. 2 UConn vs. No. 7 Baylor
9 p.m., ESPN
Baylor struggled early on Saturday, falling behind by 18 points in the first quarter to 10th-seeded Alabama. But the Bears pulled out the third-largest comeback in the tournament’s history to win, 78-74. UConn faced no such struggles, racing to a 53-20 halftime lead on the way to a 95-52 win over Vermont. The last time UConn and Baylor met, in the 2021 tournament’s round of 8, the game ended on a missed shot from Baylor’s DiJonai Carrington that was tightly contested by two UConn defenders, a play that was loudly decried after the game for the absence of a foul call. Can we get similar drama in the rematch?
No. 4 U.C.L.A. vs. No. 5 Oklahoma
10 p.m., ESPN2
Oklahoma features the second-ranked offense in Division I, at 84.5 points per game. U.C.L.A. has tightened defensively at the end of the season, holding its opponents to an average of 61 points over its previous 10 games. In the first round, the Bruins allowed only 45 points to Sacramento State. Oklahoma scored 85 on Saturday against Portland; the Sooners got double-digit scoring from five players, led by the 14 points of Taylor Robertson and Aubrey Joens.
The New York Times
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