Ameryst Alston and Kelsey Mitchell were too much for the Illini.
Alston had 39 points and Mitchell was right behind with 35 and No. 5 Ohio State routed Illinois 117-74 on Sunday.
Mitchell made 11 of 14 field goal attempts, including 8 of 9 from 3-point range before sitting out the final quarter. Alston, a senior playing her final game at home, shot 15 for 24. She had five of the Buckeyes’ 16 3-pointers.
”I think we were really dialed in,” Alston said. ”Maybe it was because it was Senior Night. I feel like that’s how the game should be. Make it fun. Everyone scoring, it becomes contagious.”
Ohio State (23-4, 15-1 Big Ten) set a record for points at Value City Arena, and came up two points short of equaling the program record of 119 points in a game set against Idaho State on Dec. 11, 1994. The arena record was 113 points set Nov. 16, 2014, against St. Francis (Pa.).
Alston had a chance to give the Buckeyes 120 and tie Ohio State’s single-game scoring record for an individual (42, shared by Mitchell and Samantha Prahalis) but missed a 3-point attempt with less than two minutes to play and the shot clock running down.
”My teammates were just yelling, `Shoot it!”’ she said, unaware of the history at stake.
Alex Wittinger led Illinois (9-18, 2-14) with 21 points and Kyley Simmons and Sarah Hartwell had 10 apiece.
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