NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Chance Gray scored 22 points, Jaloni Cambridge had 18 and Elsa Lemmila added 17 in No. 12 Ohio State’s 71-69 victory over No. 9 TCU in the Coretta Scott King Classic on Monday.
Gray shot 6 of 8 from 3-point range and Cambridge contributed eight assists and six rebounds for Ohio State (17-2), which has won six straight games.
The game, part of a doubleheader played at the Prudential Center on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, had special meaning for Gray, a senior guard from Cincinnati. Her great- grandfather Benjamin Hooks worked with the Rev. King and was a onetime executive director of the NAACP.
“This is obviously a very important holiday,” Gray said. “I was happy to be a part of it here.”
The game was tied eight times in the fourth quarter before Ohio State took the lead for good at 67-66 on a free throw from Cambridge with 1:10 to play.
A 3-pointer by Gray gave the Buckeyes a 70-66 cushion with 16 seconds left. TCU (18-2) countered with a 3 from Veronica Sheffey with .3 seconds left to make it 70-69 before Cambridge iced it with a free throw.
TCU had a chance to tie it after a timeout, but Donovyn Hunter turned the ball over as time expired.
Olivia Miles had 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Horned Frogs. It marked the 48th time in her career that she posted at least 15 points and five assists.
She was just 1 of 7 from long range but 11 of 12 from the free-throw line.
Miles, a graduate student who previously played at Notre Dame before transferring to TCU this season, was playing before numerous family friends who made the hourlong trip from her hometown of Phillipsburg.
TCU committed 20 turnovers.
Up next
Ohio State hosts Indiana on Thursday.
TCU is at UCF on Saturday.
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