The win is MSU’s third against a top-10 team this season.

“Throughout the whole year, it’s been a slow progression for me to look for my shots, too, not just always trying to hook everybody up,” Thomas said. “For the end of the season, this is a game I needed for morale and confidence to know that I can step up there and do it.”

Thomas added seven rebounds and five assists in a team-high 41 minutes.

“That just shows the kind of focus she has, the kind of leadership abilities she has to control the game at the point guard position,” junior forward Kalisha Keane said. “Then the ability to knock down such a big shot like that just shows the kind of player she’s grown to be.”

MSU head coach Suzy Merchant said the team was looking to exploit Ohio State’s backcourt pressure and “make them pay for gambling that much.”

“I thought Britt hit quite a few of those pull-up jumpers and probably none bigger than that one late,” Merchant said.

Offense was hard to come by in the early going for both teams. The Spartans opened the game with a basket from Thomas but neither team would score for the next 4:30 when the Buckeyes tied the game on a basket from center Jantel Lavender.

Ohio State would take a 12-9 lead but from there, the Spartans would roar back. Keane got it started with back-to-back baskets, the first a 3-pointer. By the time MSU was done, that 12-9 deficit had turned into a 30-18 lead, MSU’s largest lead of the half, forcing Ohio State head coach Jim Foster to call timeout.

The timeout seemed to work as the Buckeyes came back with an 8-0 to bring it within four, but Thomas, who scored nine points in the first half, hit a baseline jumper with 31 seconds left to quell the run and send the Spartans into the half with a 32-26 lead.

“We know in games like this there are going to be runs,” Keane said. “We just want to take advantage of the momentum that goes our way. It was a good push for us and this game really showed us poised under pressure and under duress.”

The Spartans opened the second half on a 14-7 run to take their largest lead of the game, 46-33.

From there, though, Ohio State would crawl back. Aided by being in the bonus and then the double-bonus, the Buckeyes turned that 13-point deficit into a three-point lead, 59-56, with 2:18 to play.

“We did a couple of those fade-out-of-focus (moments),” Merchant said. “We did a little bit of that late in the first half. Obviously, there’s some times in the second half where we would get some really key stops and cause them to turn it over then we wouldn’t take advantage. We had a handful of those where we didn’t make them pay for their mistakes.”

Senior forward Aisha Jefferson would hit a tough shot to bring it to 59-58 with 1:08 to play. The Buckeyes would turn it over on the ensuing possession, but Jefferson would miss, and the Spartans fouled, sending Ohio State guard Samantha Prahalis to the line.

Prahalis, who had hit 47-straight free throws coming into the game, split the pair. She missed four free throws in the final two minutes of regulation and overtime.

“I just couldn’t close it out at the end,” Prahalis said. “I didn’t make free throws. Going 4-of-11 from the free-throw line is unacceptable.”

After Thomas tied the game, Prahalis missed a layup but Sarah Schulze’s tip-in of the miss barely rolled off the rim.

“It was a good look for them at the end,” Keane said.

In overtime, the Buckeyes took a 65-61 lead, but MSU, behind Thomas and sophomore guard Porschè Poole (four points in overtime), went on a 10-3 run to finish the extra session.

Ohio State’s only points in that run came from a 3-pointer from Prahalis with 18 seconds left to make it a one-point game, but Thomas hit two free throws with 15 seconds left to give MSU the final margin.

“Today, we kept our composure,” said sophomore forward Lykendra Johnson, who scored 14 points with nine rebounds.

“We knew they were going to make a strong run, a big run, and we just maintained it. We fought to the end.”