COLUMBUS (AP) — Taylor Thierry had 16 points, and No. 4 seed Ohio State used a balanced attack to beat Montana State 71-51 on Friday in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament.

Ohio State shot 50.9% from the field, and each of its starters scored in double figures. Cotie McMahon and Chance Gray each had 15 points, and Jaloni Cambridge finished with 12. Ajae Petty had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Next up for the Buckeyes (26-6) is the winner of Tennessee versus South Florida.

Esmeralda Morales scored 20 points and Natalie Picton had 12 for No. 13 seed Montana State (30-4), the champions of the Big Sky.

Bothered by several close calls that went against his team, Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff received a technical foul with 5:23 left in the first half. Picton hit the two technical free throws and then converted a layup for a 27-23 lead.

But Ohio State responded with nine straight points to end the half. McMahon had five of those points as OSU grabbed a 32-27 lead at the break. It was part of a larger 32-3 run that spanned 12 minutes of the second and third quarters.

“I think we just got back to being aggressive in the press, not really being stagnant,” Gray said. “That’s our best basketball. Getting steals and converting the steals, I think that’s what kind of got us going. We talked in the huddle. They went on their run, and it was time for us to go on our run.”

Asked about his technical, McGuff responded: “Yeah, there were just disagreements on things that were going on out there. So I voiced my displeasure and that’s about it.”

Gray made three straight 3s to open the second half and increase Ohio State’s lead to 41-27.

“I was just kind of ready to shoot whenever my teammates got me the ball,” Gray said. “We were moving the ball really well. That’s something we’ve been emphasizing last couple weeks.”

The Buckeyes are hosting NCAA opening weekend for the third time in four years. They won their opener for the eighth consecutive time dating to a loss in 2012.