Ohio State's Mitchell sets NCAA women's 3-point record

LAS VEGAS — Kelsey Mitchell never thinks about records. Even she admitted her play Friday night was a signature accolade in her career at Ohio State.

Ohio State's Kelsey Mitchell, shown in a game this season, now holds the NCAA record for 3-pointers made.

Mitchell scored 34 points and became the NCAA all-time leader for 3-pointers made as No. 9 Ohio State routed Florida Gulf Coast 104-62 in the Play4Kay Shootout. Mitchell hit six of her seven 3-pointers in the first half, moving past former UConn player Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis for most all-time in NCAA history. The Buckeyes guard connected on her fifth one of the game with 6:41 left in the second quarter to move into first on the list. It was the 399th of her career.

“When it comes to setting the bar high for yourself, things you don’t even know that’s coming, happen,” Mitchell said. “All I can say is I guess I’m happy about it.”

The Buckeyes (6-1) dominated the Eagles (6-1) from the opening tip. Mitchell hit three 3-pointers as part of a 26-3 run to end the first quarter and Ohio State lead 32-9.

“Ohio State just blitzed us early to start the game,” FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. “They just put us in a hole in the first quarter that kind of shocked us and we didn’t show very good composure until like midway through the second quarter, and Ohio State is capable of that.”

Rosemarie Julien and Taylor Gradinjan scored 15 points each to lead the Eagles.

Linnae Harper added 17 for the Buckeyes and grabbed six rebounds that tied the team high.

Rebounding has been an emphasis for Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff. Whatever his message has been has turned into two dominant performances on the glass the last two games. The Buckeyes outrebounded the Eagles 47-29.

“We really emphasized that this past week and so our effort was really good on the glass,” McGuff said. “We have good personnel to rebound, but sometimes we were a little lackadaisical in that area. But we weren’t tonight.”

BIG PICTURE:

Ohio State: The Buckeyes put together arguably one of their most dominant offensive performances of the season and another strong performance on the boards ahead of the championship match on Saturday and a showdown with No. 16 Duke next week.

Florida Gulf Coast: The Eagles were exposed against a ranked team for their first loss of the season. They have two weeks to correct those weaknesses before playing a home game against No. 22 Kentucky on Dec. 8.

TIP-INS:

Ohio State came out defensively in a zone press that forced Gulf Coast to shoot from the outside. In the first quarter the Eagles were just 3 of 19 from the field. On Thursday against DePaul, Gulf Coast attempted just 14 3-pointers. It attempted 42 shots from deep against the Buckeyes.

STAR WATCH:

Ohio State forward Stephanie Mavunga had a career night on Thursday with 35 points and 16 rebounds. She had 14 points and only five rebounds against Gulf Coast.

UP NEXT:

Ohio State: Plays the winner of No. 14 Stanford and Belmont on Saturday.

Florida Gulf Coast: Plays the loser of No. 14 Stanford and Belmont on Saturday.