Cooper leads No. 5 Tennessee over No. 4 Ohio State for spot in Sweet 16

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- — Talaysia Cooper had 19 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and five assists and Zee Spearman added 17 points and five rebounds as fifth-seeded Tennessee beat fourth-seeded Ohio State 82-67 in the women's NCAA Tournament on Sunday night.

Ruby Whitehorn added 14 points and five rebounds and Samara Spencer had 10 points for Tennessee (24-9).

The Lady Vols advanced to play either No. 1 seed Texas or No. 8 seed Illinois in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday.

Jaloni Cambridge had 19 points and five rebounds and Cotie McMahon had 17 points and five rebounds for Ohio State (26-7).

Takeaways

Tennessee: The Lady Vols are the only team to participate in all 43 NCAA Tournaments since the event’s inception in 1982 and this will be Tennessee's record 37th Sweet 16 appearance. The Lady Vols will be in the round of 16 for the third time in four seasons.

Ohio State: It's the second straight year Ohio State failed to make the Sweet 16 after also losing in the second round last year.

Key stat

Tennessee used its advantages of size and depth to force 23 turnovers by Ohio State. The Vols scored 37 points off those miscues. Cooper’s seven steals were among 15 by the Vols.

Key moment

The second half was one run after another. Tennessee scored 14 straight points to go ahead 54-37. But Ohio State came back with a 20-2 run to briefly lead 57-56.

Tennessee responded with a 15-4 run to grab the lead for good. Cooper started it with a 3-pointer and a layup off a steal. Whitehorn then helped cap it with a rebound basket and a 3 from the left corner to beat the shot clock that made it 71-61 with 7:18 left