Women's NCAA Fort Worth 1 roundup: No. 3 Ohio State cruises past No. 14 Howard

Field Level Media|published: Sat 21st March, 16:28 2026

Ohio State Buckeyes guard Jaloni Cambridge (22) shoots in front of Howard Bison forward Sa'lah Hemingway (11) during the first round of the NCAA women's basketball tournament at the Jerome Schottenstein Center in Columbus on March 21, 2026.

Jaloni Cambridge scored 21 points and sister Kennedy Cambridge added 11 points with seven rebounds as No. 3 seed Ohio State rolled to a 75-54 first-round victory over No. 14 Howard in a Fort Worth Region 1 game at Columbus, Ohio.

Chance Gray and Ava Watson also scored 11 points each and Elsa Lemmila added 11 rebounds as the Buckeyes (27-7) advanced to face the winner of the first-round game between Notre Dame and Fairfield.

Zennia Thomas scored 15 points and Ariella Henigan added 14 points with 10 rebounds as the Bison (26-8) saw their 14-game winning streak come to an end.

Ohio State shot 45.0% from the floor while holding Howard to 33.9% overall and 0 of 9 from 3-point range.

The Bison led 14-12 with less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter before the Buckeyes went on a 12-0 run between the first and second quarters. Ohio State added a 13-0 run just before halftime to lead 43-19 at the break and Howard never threatened in the second half.

Notre Dame 79, Fairfield 60

Hannah Hidalgo flirted with a quadruple-double and sixth-seeded Notre Dame pulled away from 11th-seeded Fairfield for the win in the first-round game in Columbus, Ohio.

Hidalgo scored a game-high 23 points while adding nine rebounds, eight steals and six assists as the Fighting Irish (23-10) advanced to a second-round game against Ohio State Monday.

Iyana Moore added 18 points and Cassandre Prosper chipped in 17 points and rebounds for Notre Dame. The Irish sank 46.9% of their field-goal attempts and earned a 43-30 rebounding advantage. They also dominated paint points, doubling up the Stags 44-22.

Meghan Andersen scored 21 points for Fairfield (28-5). Jillian Huerter added 12 and Janelle Brown came off the bench for 10 points but it wasn't enough. The Stags hit only 38.3 % of their field-goal attempts and committed 19 turnovers that led to 22 points.

Notre Dame never trailed and led for all but 15 seconds of the game. It led by as many as 23 points in the third quarter.

--Field Level Media