Ohio State guard T’yana Todd (right) drives against WVU guard Gia Cooke on Wednesday.

MORGANTOWN — West Virginia had every opportunity to record its first-ever win against Ohio State on Wednesday, yet the 21st-ranked Mountaineers left The Bahamas sunburned.

Elsa Lemmila scored in the paint with 24.9 seconds remaining and then teammate Ava Watson connected on two free throws with 3.8 seconds left to give Ohio State an 83-81 victory in the championship game of the Baha Mar Hoops Pink Flamingo Championship, inside the Baha Mar Convention Center.

WVU guard Sydney Shaw had a chance to send the game into overtime in the final moments. The Mountaineers trailed, 83-80, when Shaw was fouled taking a 3-pointer with 0.6 seconds left. After a lengthy review, Shaw missed the first free throw and made the second one. She intentionally missed the third attempt, which fell into the hands of Lemmila as the buzzer sounded.

WVU (6-1) fell to 0-14 all-time against the Buckeyes, who erased an eight-point deficit with under four minutes remaining to secure the victory.

For the Mountaineers, losing that advantage would be bad enough, but outside of a hot start in the first quarter, this ended up as one frustrating day for WVU.

That good start equaled out to a 9-2 lead, but Ohio State (5-1) kept climbing back in behind guard Jaloni Cambridge’s 22 points and a full-court pressure defense that befuddled WVU for most of the game.

WVU turned the ball over 25 times, tied for the most ever under head coach Mark Kellogg. Ohio State came away with 14 steals, but WVU did most of the damage to itself.

WVU players ran into each other trying to break Ohio State’s pressure. Sometimes passes were thrown right to a Buckeyes’ defender or a bad pass was easily intercepted.

Those turnovers led to 21 points for Ohio State, but there were plenty of equalizers in a game that saw five lead changes.

Ohio State, which entered the game with nine available players, had four players foul out, including Cambridge. The Buckeyes couldn’t handle WVU players when they drove to the basket or worked the ball on the inside.

WVU finished with a 46-20 advantage in paint points and won the rebounding battle, 38-28.

That led to Kierra Wheeler’s 19-point, 14-rebound double-double for the Mountaineers, while Gia Cooke got to the foul line 17 times and finished with 24 points for a second consecutive game.

WVU finished 23 of 33 from the foul line, while Ohio State was 15 of 20.

It simply wasn’t enough. Seemingly whenever WVU plays against Ohio State, it’s never enough. In WVU’s 14 losses in the series, only six have been decided by single digits.

That appeared to be changing when WVU guard Sydney Woodley connected on an and-one 3-point play that gave the Mountaineers a 74-66 lead with 4:34 remaining.

And then WVU’s offense fell apart. The Mountaineers went 1 for 7 shooting down the stretch with three of those attempts getting blocked and Shaw also had a bad pass that was stolen away that turned into a lay-up at the other end that brought Ohio State within 77-75.

Cooke scored WVU’s lone field goal in the final minutes, a shot that she banked in while appearing to have lost her balance for a 79-75 lead.

Watson and teammate Kylee Kitts combined to go 4 for 4 at the line to tie the game at 79 with 47.7 seconds left.

WVU took a brief 80-79 lead when Cooke went 1 for 2 at the line, but Lemmila, a 6-foot-6 center out of Finland, found herself open for a 10-foot jumper that gave Ohio State the lead for good.

WVU tried to counter with a drive to the basket from Jordan Harrison, but her shot came hard off the rim. WVU center Jordan Thomas got the rebound, but couldn’t exactly get a clean look at the basket.

Watson eventually got her hands on the ball for the Buckeyes and was fouled. She made both free throws for an 83-80 lead.

Coming out of a timeout, Shaw took in the inbounds pass, made a shot fake and then took one quick dribble to her left. She took a 3-pointer that bounced off the rim, but was fouled by Kitts in the process. WVU needed all three free throws to send the game into overtime, but Shaw’s first free throw rimmed in and out.

Chance Gray added 15 points and seven assists for Ohio State, while Bryn Martin made four 3-pointers and added 16 points.

Shaw finished with 13 points and six rebounds, while Harrison also added 13 points for WVU.