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LGHL Dominic Kirks, Julian Sayin commit to Ohio State, Buckeyes host Junior Day
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Dominic Kirks, Julian Sayin commit to Ohio State, Buckeyes host Junior Day
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Five-star 2024 QB Julian Sayin | Andrew Ivins, 247Sports
It was another BOOOOOMing weekend for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State’s momentum in 2024 kept on trucking over the weekend, as news for the Buckeyes seemingly gets better and better with each passing day. With the dust not even settled from the tremendous addition of star safety Caleb Downs via the transfer portal on Friday, Ryan Day’s program added another pair of big time players in just the last 48 hours.
That doesn’t even include what looked to be a very successful Junior Day for Ohio State, with many of the nation’s top prospects in the next two cycles making the trek to Columbus for the recruiting event. But more on that later...
On Saturday, the Buckeyes managed to add one more name late in the game to their 2024 recruiting class, flipping four-star defensive lineman Dominic Kirks from Washington.
Kirks, a native of Plainesville, Ohio, did not sign his NLI with the Huskies during the Early Signing Period. Despite not having an Ohio State offer in hand until Jan. 14, rumors began circling even before Kalen DeBoer took the Alabama job that Kirks was interested in the Buckeyes. Once DeBoer left, Kirks announced his de-commitment from Washington, and after earning that elusive offer on a visit to Columbus last weekend, it wasn’t long before the 6-foot-4 lineman officially made his commitment to Ohio State.
Hailing out of Riverside High School, Kirks is listed as the No. 12 player in Ohio and the No. 251 prospect nationally, per the 247Sports Composite. His addition is a huge one for Larry Johnson’s group, as the Buckeyes only had two other defensive line commits in the cycle in five-star Eddrick Houston and three-star Eric Mensah. Ohio State will still need to bring in a large class at the position in 2025, but Kirks will feature as a super important piece moving forward in a room that will lose likely all four starters after the 2024 season.
Elsewhere, Ohio State made another huge splash in the transfer portal on Sunday — again as the beneficiary of Nick Saban’s retirement from Alabama — when 2024 five-star quarterback Julian Sayin announced he is taking his talents to Columbus.
The No. 1 QB and No. 5 overall player in the class, according to the 247Sports Composite, Sayin signed with the Crimson Tide in December and enrolled in early January, but like many others decided to jump ship with Saban no longer at the helm. Having held Ohio State in high regard during his initial recruitment and with there being a prior relationship to new Buckeyes offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien from when the latter was also at Alabama, everything lined up perfectly for Ryan Day to add Sayin to a now loaded quarterbacks room.
The MVP of last year’s Elite 11 Finals, Sayin was named the Gatorade California Football Player of the Year in 2023 after completing just under 75% of his passes for 2,347 yards with 24 touchdowns and only one interception. During his four years at Carlsbad High School, the 6-foot-1 QB threw for nearly 8,000 yards with 86 TDs and 10 INTs, adding another 600 yards and nine scores with his legs. In his scouting report, 247Sports national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins said that Sayin, “Could be the most ‘ready to play early’ quarterback in this year’s class.”
With Will Howard entering his final year of eligibility, the starting quarterback job will be up for grabs for the 2025 season, and the competition will now include Sayin alongside Air Noland — another five-star QB in the 2024 class — in addition to Lincoln Kienholz and Devin Brown, should one or both decide to stick around past the spring transfer window. However, if there was any thought as to whether it might upset a guy like Noland that Ohio State would bring in a second QB in his class, it sounds like he is ready to compete and let his play do the talking...
The additions of both Kirks and Sayin give Ohio State the No. 2 overall class in 2024, factoring in transfers. In this cycle alone, the Buckeyes have managed to land the No. 1 overall player in Jeremiah Smith, the No. 1 QB in Sayin, the No. 1 overall player in the transfer portal (Downs) and the No. 1 RB in the portal (Quinshon Judkins). Ohio State’s 93.27 player average is the best in the country.
When the coaching staff wasn’t busy collecting as many blue chip prospects as they could get their hands on, they were hosting a good deal of their top targets on campus for Junior Day. A large number of guys in both the 2025 and 2026 classes were in attendance over the weekend, even despite the cold and snowy weather, and it sounds like just more good news for a program that continues to build on enormous momentum.
Here are some of the players who engaged in the festivities (all rankings per the 247Sports Composite):
Continue reading...
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Five-star 2024 QB Julian Sayin | Andrew Ivins, 247Sports
It was another BOOOOOMing weekend for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State’s momentum in 2024 kept on trucking over the weekend, as news for the Buckeyes seemingly gets better and better with each passing day. With the dust not even settled from the tremendous addition of star safety Caleb Downs via the transfer portal on Friday, Ryan Day’s program added another pair of big time players in just the last 48 hours.
That doesn’t even include what looked to be a very successful Junior Day for Ohio State, with many of the nation’s top prospects in the next two cycles making the trek to Columbus for the recruiting event. But more on that later...
On Saturday, the Buckeyes managed to add one more name late in the game to their 2024 recruiting class, flipping four-star defensive lineman Dominic Kirks from Washington.
Kirks, a native of Plainesville, Ohio, did not sign his NLI with the Huskies during the Early Signing Period. Despite not having an Ohio State offer in hand until Jan. 14, rumors began circling even before Kalen DeBoer took the Alabama job that Kirks was interested in the Buckeyes. Once DeBoer left, Kirks announced his de-commitment from Washington, and after earning that elusive offer on a visit to Columbus last weekend, it wasn’t long before the 6-foot-4 lineman officially made his commitment to Ohio State.
Hailing out of Riverside High School, Kirks is listed as the No. 12 player in Ohio and the No. 251 prospect nationally, per the 247Sports Composite. His addition is a huge one for Larry Johnson’s group, as the Buckeyes only had two other defensive line commits in the cycle in five-star Eddrick Houston and three-star Eric Mensah. Ohio State will still need to bring in a large class at the position in 2025, but Kirks will feature as a super important piece moving forward in a room that will lose likely all four starters after the 2024 season.
Elsewhere, Ohio State made another huge splash in the transfer portal on Sunday — again as the beneficiary of Nick Saban’s retirement from Alabama — when 2024 five-star quarterback Julian Sayin announced he is taking his talents to Columbus.
The No. 1 QB and No. 5 overall player in the class, according to the 247Sports Composite, Sayin signed with the Crimson Tide in December and enrolled in early January, but like many others decided to jump ship with Saban no longer at the helm. Having held Ohio State in high regard during his initial recruitment and with there being a prior relationship to new Buckeyes offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien from when the latter was also at Alabama, everything lined up perfectly for Ryan Day to add Sayin to a now loaded quarterbacks room.
The MVP of last year’s Elite 11 Finals, Sayin was named the Gatorade California Football Player of the Year in 2023 after completing just under 75% of his passes for 2,347 yards with 24 touchdowns and only one interception. During his four years at Carlsbad High School, the 6-foot-1 QB threw for nearly 8,000 yards with 86 TDs and 10 INTs, adding another 600 yards and nine scores with his legs. In his scouting report, 247Sports national recruiting analyst Greg Biggins said that Sayin, “Could be the most ‘ready to play early’ quarterback in this year’s class.”
With Will Howard entering his final year of eligibility, the starting quarterback job will be up for grabs for the 2025 season, and the competition will now include Sayin alongside Air Noland — another five-star QB in the 2024 class — in addition to Lincoln Kienholz and Devin Brown, should one or both decide to stick around past the spring transfer window. However, if there was any thought as to whether it might upset a guy like Noland that Ohio State would bring in a second QB in his class, it sounds like he is ready to compete and let his play do the talking...
The additions of both Kirks and Sayin give Ohio State the No. 2 overall class in 2024, factoring in transfers. In this cycle alone, the Buckeyes have managed to land the No. 1 overall player in Jeremiah Smith, the No. 1 QB in Sayin, the No. 1 overall player in the transfer portal (Downs) and the No. 1 RB in the portal (Quinshon Judkins). Ohio State’s 93.27 player average is the best in the country.
When the coaching staff wasn’t busy collecting as many blue chip prospects as they could get their hands on, they were hosting a good deal of their top targets on campus for Junior Day. A large number of guys in both the 2025 and 2026 classes were in attendance over the weekend, even despite the cold and snowy weather, and it sounds like just more good news for a program that continues to build on enormous momentum.
Here are some of the players who engaged in the festivities (all rankings per the 247Sports Composite):
- 2025 TE Nate Roberts (No. 4 TE, No. 106 OVR)
- 2025 ATH Trey McNutt (No. 2 S, No. 34 OVR)
- 2025 Ohio State WR commit Jayvan Boggs (No. 27 WR, No. 223 OVR)
- 2025 Ohio State QB commit Tavien St. Clair (No. 4 QB, No. 48 OVR)
Man of the Scarlet and gray#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/n7Idpk62XU
— Tavien St. Clair (@TJSaint_1) January 22, 2024
- 2025 EDGE Justin Hill (No. 13 EDGE, No. 139 OVR)
- 2026 EDGE Cincere Johnson (Class not yet ranked)
- 2025 kicker Alex Crabill (N/A)
- 2026 ATH CJ Newell Jr. (Class not yet ranked)
- 2026 CB Elbert Hill (Class not yet ranked)
- 2025 WR Preston Bowman (No. 117 WR, No. 47 OH)
- 2025 EDGE Cal Thrush (No. 82 EDGE, No. 59 OH)
- 2026 WR Payton Cook (Class not yet ranked)
Quick Hits
- Ohio State also sent out a trio of new offers over the weekend. On the receiving ends included 2025 defensive lineman Mariyon Dye, the No. 24 EDGE and No. 5 player out of his home state of Indiana, 2025 athlete Cody Haddad, the No. 15 player in Ohio in the cycle, and 2026 offensive lineman Will Conroy. Conroy, who does not yet have a ranking as just a high school sophomore, also picked up a Crystal Ball prediction in favor of the Buckeyes via Bill Kurelic on Friday afternoon.
Continue reading...
LGHL Five Storylines: Ohio State women’s basketball vs. Iowa
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Five Storylines: Ohio State women’s basketball vs. Iowa
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The crowd, keeping composure and, yes, Caitlin Clark
The Ohio State women’s basketball team has a challenge ahead of itself. A challenge that the team has had in other moments this season, but each time coming up short. Now, instead of an outstanding USC Trojans guard Juju Watkins scoring 30 points easily, or 6-foot-7 UCLA Bruin center Lauren Betts stopping anything in her path, it’s Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark and all she brings both in and out of the game.
Here are five storylines to watch for in Sunday’s game, where No. 18 in the country hosts No. 2.
The attention surrounding the game itself can’t be understated. Ohio State opened the upper deck for this game alone, with Clark and the Hawkeyes averaging 9,874 people in attendance for away games. Take away three neutral site games at a midseason tropical tournament that normally don’t bring large attendance numbers, and its almost 13,000 per game.
Sunday will increase that number, with the Buckeyes announcing Friday that the game is a sellout of the roughly 19,000 seats available.
The crowd will fall into three broad categories: Ohio State fans, University of Iowa fans and the Clark curious crowd. What the split will be is unknown, but there will be a lot of black and yellow in the crowd normally comprised of scarlet and gray. However it breaks down, it’s an important moment for everyone included in the game.
“Just to be able to have a whole bunch of fans in the Schott, you know, I think that’s going to be really fun for us,” said Ohio State guard Celeste Taylor. “The energy, the crowd, whether that be against us or with us.”
When Iowa gets the ball, they want to run. That means when possession switches on poor passes, the defense has to work even harder than it will already have to with the opponent at hand.
The Buckeyes average 16 turnovers per game in losses, the most being 19 against the Michigan Wolverines on Dec. 30. Ohio State has improved since then, averaging 11.5 per game in the recent four-game winning streak. Against Iowa, it’ll have to be in that ballpark for the game to stay competitive. Ohio State has the experience to do that, with graduate senior guards Jacy Sheldon and Celeste Taylor on the perimeter running the show.
A record crowd for the season could either help or hurt Ohio State in this regard. Effective communication will limit turnovers and let the offense especially stay focused. The Buckeyes have that in mind for practices before Sunday.
“We may even turn up the music a little bit here in the next couple days, just to make them communicate out there without me being able to direct things.” said head coach Kevin McGuff. “Cuz it’s gonna be a little bit like that on Sunday.”
On the other side of turnovers, Ohio State leads the conference in turnover margin, in Big Ten play. That +6 margin in the Buckeyes’ favor, if it repeats Sunday, has to turn into points against an Iowa side averaging 90.9 points per game against conference opponents. For all that Clark will bring to the game, the start averages 4.2 turnovers per game, and almost six per game in the last five Big Ten games. Trying to frustrate the star isn’t an easy task, but Taylor has the ability to do just that.
While Iowa’s screens created for Clark’s deep threat won’t give the game too many permanent one-on-one situations, Taylor gives the Buckeyes something it didn’t have against the Hawkeyes in two defeats last season. At Duke, Taylor was a National Defensive Player of the Year finalist for 22-23, and the guard has brought that same work to the Buckeyes.
Taylor sits second in the conference this season in defensive rating, sitting at 79.2 points allowed for every 100 opponent possessions. The graduate senior does this by limiting space between herself and her opponent, always has a hand or arm up on shots and capitalizing on any opponent mistakes. In other words, Taylor annoys people and never lets up.
That’s the kind of performance the Buckeyes need and Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder will do her best to limit. That could mean more quick shots from deep for Clark, which make for fun highlight reels but are also a better alternative than letting her pass into the paint or make moves herself.
“It’ll be fascinating,” said Coach McGuff about the matchup. “I think there’s two competitive players who are both really good at what they do. So it’ll be fun to watch.”
The two former amateur teammates are friends, and do have some NCAA history against each other. During the 2021 ACC/B1G Challenge.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25238608/26cac2c4_20211202_iowa_womens_basketball_at_duke_113.jpeg)
Stephen Malley | hawkeyesports.com
On Dec. 2, 2021, the Hawkeyes went to Cameron Indoor Stadium in North Carolina and fell to Taylor and the Blue Devils, in the guard’s junior season. Clark scored 22 points, had nine rebounds and eight assists. Now, that’s a great scoreline for most NCAA players, and Clark was only a sophomore in the 79-64 defeat, but a stat sheet for Clark similar to that 2021 game would do wonders for the Buckeyes on Sunday.
In any close games for the Hawkeyes this season, Clark has avoided hitting a double-double. Against the Spartans, where the star hit a game-winning three at the buzzer to win by three on Jan. 2, Clark had 40 points but only one rebound and five assists. With the Buckeyes improved half court defense this calendar year, limiting the non-Clarks of the world will go a long way.
Taylor isn’t alone either. In both defeats to the Hawkeyes last season, Iowa didn’t have to contend with Sheldon. In the first game, last January, Sheldon was out due to a foot injury that kept her out most of the season. The Big Ten Tournament defeat for Ohio State only had Sheldon playing 17 minutes off the bench.
The matchup between the two former teammates is a top billing within an already blockbuster event.
While the Buckeyes fell twice to the Hawkeyes last season, there is recent history of Ohio State getting the best of Iowa. It happened two years ago in Iowa City, Iowa.
In a 92-88 victory on Jan. 31, 2022, the Buckeyes won with the three-point shot. While this might make minds go to the clear fact that shooting guard Taylor Mikesell is no longer playing NCAA basketball, the most dangerous shooter in the victory is still on the roster. It’s not Sheldon either but forward Rebeka Mikulášiková.
The Slovakian forward hit five of the scarlet and gray’s 11 three-point shots on the day. Fast forward two years and she’s in a run of form that is helping Ohio State win games. Against Maryland, Mikulášiková led the team with 20 points, going three-for-six from beyond the arc.
Mikulášiková also hurt the Terrapins in the paint, using her agility to spin around defenders and hit theatrical layups. Mikulášiková credited those inside points for her success from deep. Both inside and outside. Fortunately for the forward, it won’t be all on her shoulders in the paint.
Forwards Taylor Thierry and Cotie McMahon can have an impact against the Hawkeyes in the paint. Iowa has a strong inside game, mostly on offense when Clark is throwing passes into Hannah Stuelke or Sharon Goodman.
Focusing on the inside by all three forwards, plus the drives created by Sheldon, will open up those opportunities to shoot from deep, but it won’t be easy. Iowa will play a zone defense against the Buckeyes because lately the threes are not falling.
Ohio State will need to do better than its current stretch of deep shooting. In the Buckeyes’ last game against Maryland, coach McGuff’s side went 4-for-26 from deep. Starting early in the first quarter, right from the tipoff, the threes weren’t landing. Giving McMahon, Mikulášiková and Thierry early chances going into the zone, or receiving passes after breaking through it, will show how the referees decide to call the game and how Iowa handles the pressure.
Establish that and the shooting follows. As long as they hit.
A large pair of blinders are needed to not see the importance of Clark to this game. She’s the reason the upper bowl is open, why tickets sold out immediately after going on sale (thanks to scalping) and why Iowa is the No. 2 team in the nation.
The classic argument is that there are five players on the court. No arguments here. Clark could not beat an Ohio State one-on-five. However, she certainly will try to win singlehandedly.
Clark averages 21.8 shots per game, the most in the Big Ten, seven shots more a game than the second most by Michigan guard Laila Phelia. Look in the Iowa roster and the second name is Stuelke, shooting 13 less shots per game. Clark has the most assists in conference history because the attention given to her finds teammates who convert high percentage shots.
So, the added work of double and triple-teaming Clark doesn’t work. Feeding into the Clark madness on the court won’t help the Buckeyes. Ohio State of last season couldn’t get past Clark. Iowa broke the 19-game Buckeyes winning streak to start the year and then cleaned the scarlet and gray up in the Big Ten Tournament final, one day after a 25-point comeback by coach McGuff’s side.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25238651/1247801591.jpg "COLLEGE BASKETBALL: MAR 05 Ohio State vs Iowa")
Photo by Bailey Hillesheim/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
This time around, the team feels different.
“Defensively we’ve grown. I think we’ve improved in that area last year compared to this year,” said Thierry. “And I think offensively too. We’re moving the ball really well. And we have a lot of versatile players who can score and defend. So I think all around our game has improved as a team.”
How well has the team improved? Sunday is the litmus test.
Continue reading...
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
The crowd, keeping composure and, yes, Caitlin Clark
The Ohio State women’s basketball team has a challenge ahead of itself. A challenge that the team has had in other moments this season, but each time coming up short. Now, instead of an outstanding USC Trojans guard Juju Watkins scoring 30 points easily, or 6-foot-7 UCLA Bruin center Lauren Betts stopping anything in her path, it’s Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark and all she brings both in and out of the game.
Here are five storylines to watch for in Sunday’s game, where No. 18 in the country hosts No. 2.
The Crowd
The attention surrounding the game itself can’t be understated. Ohio State opened the upper deck for this game alone, with Clark and the Hawkeyes averaging 9,874 people in attendance for away games. Take away three neutral site games at a midseason tropical tournament that normally don’t bring large attendance numbers, and its almost 13,000 per game.
Sunday will increase that number, with the Buckeyes announcing Friday that the game is a sellout of the roughly 19,000 seats available.
Sunday's matchup against Iowa is officially SOLD OUT
: https://t.co/2flICTMWp5
️: Verified resale tickets are available at https://t.co/8PG4wk3khs and via the Ohio State Buckeyes app or Ticketmaster app#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/xzqE2mC6Vt
— Ohio State WBB (@OhioStateWBB) January 19, 2024
The crowd will fall into three broad categories: Ohio State fans, University of Iowa fans and the Clark curious crowd. What the split will be is unknown, but there will be a lot of black and yellow in the crowd normally comprised of scarlet and gray. However it breaks down, it’s an important moment for everyone included in the game.
“Just to be able to have a whole bunch of fans in the Schott, you know, I think that’s going to be really fun for us,” said Ohio State guard Celeste Taylor. “The energy, the crowd, whether that be against us or with us.”
Composure
When Iowa gets the ball, they want to run. That means when possession switches on poor passes, the defense has to work even harder than it will already have to with the opponent at hand.
The Buckeyes average 16 turnovers per game in losses, the most being 19 against the Michigan Wolverines on Dec. 30. Ohio State has improved since then, averaging 11.5 per game in the recent four-game winning streak. Against Iowa, it’ll have to be in that ballpark for the game to stay competitive. Ohio State has the experience to do that, with graduate senior guards Jacy Sheldon and Celeste Taylor on the perimeter running the show.
A record crowd for the season could either help or hurt Ohio State in this regard. Effective communication will limit turnovers and let the offense especially stay focused. The Buckeyes have that in mind for practices before Sunday.
“We may even turn up the music a little bit here in the next couple days, just to make them communicate out there without me being able to direct things.” said head coach Kevin McGuff. “Cuz it’s gonna be a little bit like that on Sunday.”
On the other side of turnovers, Ohio State leads the conference in turnover margin, in Big Ten play. That +6 margin in the Buckeyes’ favor, if it repeats Sunday, has to turn into points against an Iowa side averaging 90.9 points per game against conference opponents. For all that Clark will bring to the game, the start averages 4.2 turnovers per game, and almost six per game in the last five Big Ten games. Trying to frustrate the star isn’t an easy task, but Taylor has the ability to do just that.
Celeste Taylor’s Defensive Impact
While Iowa’s screens created for Clark’s deep threat won’t give the game too many permanent one-on-one situations, Taylor gives the Buckeyes something it didn’t have against the Hawkeyes in two defeats last season. At Duke, Taylor was a National Defensive Player of the Year finalist for 22-23, and the guard has brought that same work to the Buckeyes.
Taylor sits second in the conference this season in defensive rating, sitting at 79.2 points allowed for every 100 opponent possessions. The graduate senior does this by limiting space between herself and her opponent, always has a hand or arm up on shots and capitalizing on any opponent mistakes. In other words, Taylor annoys people and never lets up.
That’s the kind of performance the Buckeyes need and Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder will do her best to limit. That could mean more quick shots from deep for Clark, which make for fun highlight reels but are also a better alternative than letting her pass into the paint or make moves herself.
“It’ll be fascinating,” said Coach McGuff about the matchup. “I think there’s two competitive players who are both really good at what they do. So it’ll be fun to watch.”
The two former amateur teammates are friends, and do have some NCAA history against each other. During the 2021 ACC/B1G Challenge.
On Dec. 2, 2021, the Hawkeyes went to Cameron Indoor Stadium in North Carolina and fell to Taylor and the Blue Devils, in the guard’s junior season. Clark scored 22 points, had nine rebounds and eight assists. Now, that’s a great scoreline for most NCAA players, and Clark was only a sophomore in the 79-64 defeat, but a stat sheet for Clark similar to that 2021 game would do wonders for the Buckeyes on Sunday.
In any close games for the Hawkeyes this season, Clark has avoided hitting a double-double. Against the Spartans, where the star hit a game-winning three at the buzzer to win by three on Jan. 2, Clark had 40 points but only one rebound and five assists. With the Buckeyes improved half court defense this calendar year, limiting the non-Clarks of the world will go a long way.
Taylor isn’t alone either. In both defeats to the Hawkeyes last season, Iowa didn’t have to contend with Sheldon. In the first game, last January, Sheldon was out due to a foot injury that kept her out most of the season. The Big Ten Tournament defeat for Ohio State only had Sheldon playing 17 minutes off the bench.
The matchup between the two former teammates is a top billing within an already blockbuster event.
Forwards Momentum
While the Buckeyes fell twice to the Hawkeyes last season, there is recent history of Ohio State getting the best of Iowa. It happened two years ago in Iowa City, Iowa.
In a 92-88 victory on Jan. 31, 2022, the Buckeyes won with the three-point shot. While this might make minds go to the clear fact that shooting guard Taylor Mikesell is no longer playing NCAA basketball, the most dangerous shooter in the victory is still on the roster. It’s not Sheldon either but forward Rebeka Mikulášiková.
The Slovakian forward hit five of the scarlet and gray’s 11 three-point shots on the day. Fast forward two years and she’s in a run of form that is helping Ohio State win games. Against Maryland, Mikulášiková led the team with 20 points, going three-for-six from beyond the arc.
Mikulášiková also hurt the Terrapins in the paint, using her agility to spin around defenders and hit theatrical layups. Mikulášiková credited those inside points for her success from deep. Both inside and outside. Fortunately for the forward, it won’t be all on her shoulders in the paint.
Forwards Taylor Thierry and Cotie McMahon can have an impact against the Hawkeyes in the paint. Iowa has a strong inside game, mostly on offense when Clark is throwing passes into Hannah Stuelke or Sharon Goodman.
Focusing on the inside by all three forwards, plus the drives created by Sheldon, will open up those opportunities to shoot from deep, but it won’t be easy. Iowa will play a zone defense against the Buckeyes because lately the threes are not falling.
Ohio State will need to do better than its current stretch of deep shooting. In the Buckeyes’ last game against Maryland, coach McGuff’s side went 4-for-26 from deep. Starting early in the first quarter, right from the tipoff, the threes weren’t landing. Giving McMahon, Mikulášiková and Thierry early chances going into the zone, or receiving passes after breaking through it, will show how the referees decide to call the game and how Iowa handles the pressure.
Establish that and the shooting follows. As long as they hit.
Caitlin Clark
A large pair of blinders are needed to not see the importance of Clark to this game. She’s the reason the upper bowl is open, why tickets sold out immediately after going on sale (thanks to scalping) and why Iowa is the No. 2 team in the nation.
The classic argument is that there are five players on the court. No arguments here. Clark could not beat an Ohio State one-on-five. However, she certainly will try to win singlehandedly.
Clark averages 21.8 shots per game, the most in the Big Ten, seven shots more a game than the second most by Michigan guard Laila Phelia. Look in the Iowa roster and the second name is Stuelke, shooting 13 less shots per game. Clark has the most assists in conference history because the attention given to her finds teammates who convert high percentage shots.
So, the added work of double and triple-teaming Clark doesn’t work. Feeding into the Clark madness on the court won’t help the Buckeyes. Ohio State of last season couldn’t get past Clark. Iowa broke the 19-game Buckeyes winning streak to start the year and then cleaned the scarlet and gray up in the Big Ten Tournament final, one day after a 25-point comeback by coach McGuff’s side.
This time around, the team feels different.
“Defensively we’ve grown. I think we’ve improved in that area last year compared to this year,” said Thierry. “And I think offensively too. We’re moving the ball really well. And we have a lot of versatile players who can score and defend. So I think all around our game has improved as a team.”
How well has the team improved? Sunday is the litmus test.
Continue reading...
LGHL No. 18 Ohio State women's basketball shocks No. 2 Iowa in overtime, 100-92
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No. 18 Ohio State women's basketball shocks No. 2 Iowa in overtime, 100-92
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Buckeyes outlast Caitlin Clark to upset the No. 2 Hawkeyes on a record-breaking day.
The Schottenstein Center on Sunday was at a whole new level of excitement for Ohio State women’s basketball. That’s because of the presence of Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark. In front of a record-breaking, sellout, women's basketball crowd, the odds were stacked against the Buckeyes.
Despite the odds and foul troubles by three starters, Ohio State fed off the crowd, defeating the favored No. 2 Hawkeyes 100-92. Including a 12-point deficit comeback and five minutes of Buckeye-dominant overtime.
From the jump, the energy and noise were palpable. Entering it, the matchup within the matchup was Iowa’s Clark versus former Duke shooting guard Celeste Taylor. The former National Defensive Player of the Year finalist gave Ohio State a defensive matchup it can feel better about going up against the leading scorer and assist-creator in the nation.
Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, Taylor’s presence was missing within the first two minutes of the game thanks to foul trouble. While a single person alone can’t stop Clark, Taylor gave Ohio State the best like-for-like matchup. However, even without Taylor, Ohio State showed that it was up to the task early.
Leading the charge was sophomore forward Cotie McMahon. Seemingly feeding off the crowd, the Centerville, Ohio native gave the capacity crowd something to cheer about. McMahon aggressively went to the basket. It was a performance fans were used to seeing last season in the postseason run where Ohio State went to the Elite Eight.
McMahon led Ohio State with 11 points. Clark responded scoring 13 and sprinkling in two assists.
It was clear early though that head coach Kevin McGuff wanted to break any Iowa attempt at setting up its zone defense. With the three-point shot eluding the Scarlet and Gray, leveraging forwards looked like it was working. At the end of the first quarter it was 26-24 in the Hawkeyes favor, but considering the loss of Taylor, a one-possession game against the No. 2 team in the country was a foundation-builder.
In place of Taylor was guard Rikki Harris. The Buckeyes’ sixth player, also known as the “bench starter,” entered the game and hit two of the three made shots from deep for Ohio State, marking just the third time this season the senior from Indianapolis has knocked down multiple three-point attempts.
Ohio State returned all five starters to the court for the second quarter and continued the inside game with McMahon. Although the forward missed two free throws to start the 10 minutes, it did put the Hawkeyes bigs in foul trouble. Both Hannah Stuelke, who started after missing Iowa’s Tuesday game against Wisconsin, and Sharon Goodman went to the bench with two fouls apiece.
Defensively, the Buckeyes' strong first-quarter presence had a lull in the second. After going up two points, Iowa went on an 11-3 run to go up 38-32. On most of the Hawkeyes’ five scoring possessions, Ohio State wasn’t back fast enough on defense to stop easy transition baskets. It forced a timeout by McGuff with 5:41 left in the half, down six, hoping to stop the bleeding on defense.
The Buckeyes responded well out of that timeout, with Iowa only getting off five shots the rest of the quarter, hitting two. Ohio State then found the deep shot, courtesy of guard Jacy Sheldon. After missing all three of her shots in the first quarter, Sheldon led Ohio State with eight points in the second quarter.
Of those eight points, two came from deep. On the first, forward Rebeka Mikulášiková, who had five points and three assists in the first half, drove to the basket from beyond the arc but quickly threw a no-look pass to Sheldon, converting the attempt. Then, with the Buckeyes down five with less than a minute to play, the Dublin, Ohio native hit her second, from the corner, to put Ohio State down two points heading into the halftime locker room.
Clark did what she does in the first half, scoring 20 points, but rebounds and assists were down slightly. The superstar senior from Des Moines had four assists and only two rebounds in the first half, with Ohio State winning the rebounding margin 17-16 in the first 20 minutes. McMahon’s 12 points led all Buckeyes.
To start the second half, fouls crept up again on Taylor while trying to defend Clark. After stopping a Clark drive to the basket, and knocking the ball free. With a review, the call stood and Taylor went back to the bench. Joining her soon after was Iowa forward Kate Martin, as the Iowa senior quickly picked up her fourth. At that point in the game, nine players across both teams had at least two fouls, with the teams combing for 28 in two and a half quarters, leaving a game that didn’t feature too much flow.
Iowa responded, playing a strong inside game themselves, mirroring what made the Buckeyes successful in the first quarter. The Hawkeyes went on a seven-point run, extending the lead to eight points, the largest of the game to that point. In the run, the Buckeyes missed all five attempted shots and needed to help themselves to make it a game again. It came from an unlikely source.
Guard Emma Shumate, who had just entered the game in the third quarter, hit a three on her first touch of the ball in the game. Then, on the next offensive possession did it again. If you’re keeping track at home, that’s six points in 44 seconds for the sophomore from Dresden, Ohio. The six-point run cut the lead down to two, but it didn’t last long. The Hawkeyes continued pummeling under the basket, responding with the final five points of the quarter to go back up seven with 10 minutes remaining.
The start of the fourth quarter didn’t instill much confidence in the Buckeyes-leaning crowd. Iowa hit its first two shots of the quarter, a three-point shot by Clark and a running layup by 5-foot-7 Molly Davis over the taller Buckeye defender to increase the lead to 12 points. That forced a quick timeout by Coach McGuff with 8:49 remaining.
Out of the timeout, McMahon showed what the strategy could be to end the game, going straight at the basket, and earning a foul and a free throw in the process. It gave Ohio State a more manageable nine-point deficit.
McMahon hit another layup. Then Sheldon followed up with one of her own. It was like Coach McGuff was daring Iowa to try and defend and hear more whistles. That earned an Iowa timeout by head coach Lisa Bluder, taking time to play chess with strategy in the final minutes of the game as the Buckeyes began to mount a run.
Iowa’s response wasn’t as strong as Ohio State’s out of the timeout. McMahon, scoring six out of the next eight points of the game, put the Buckeyes within a point with 3:59 remaining. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, three starters were also at four fouls. Taylor, Thierry, and McMahon, who led Ohio State with 23 points up to that point, had to play carefully.
Continuing to slow the Hawkeyes’ defense, the Buckeyes turned the 12-point deficit into a one-point lead, but it wouldn’t last. Iowa responded hitting the next two baskets in a game that became a yo-yo of back-and-forth opportunities.
McMahon continued her game-changing play. Down three, the forward missed a layup and ripped the ball away from Martin under the basket to get a second chance shot. That shot went in and although McMahon missed a follow-up free throw, Taylor helped.
On the next offensive possession, Taylor had the ball with only 8 seconds remaining on the shot clock, feeling the pressure, the graduate senior responded, hitting a running layup to put the Buckeyes up one.
Then, on defense, Iowa missed a wide-open layup, but Stuelke had two shots at the line. Missing one, it was a tied game, and that’s how it'd stay. Sheldon took the last shot of the game, clanging off the rim on a three-attempt, sending the game to overtime.
McMahon hit the first shot of the overtime period, a minute into the five, with Iowa missing its first two attempts with the ball. Then, the Buckeyes benefited from a miss by the referees, giving Ohio State possession on a play that looked out on Thierry. From that extra possession, McMahon made it to the line, making it a three-point Ohio State lead.
Clark cut the lead to one, going solo on a layup attempt against Taylor, still playing cautiously with the next foul taking her out. Then McMahon kept attacking. The forward hit a layup and went to the line, thanks to a foul by Clark. The sophomore loved the moment and scored her 31st points of the game, making it a two-possession contest.
Responding was Clark again, hitting a three-point shot, making it a one-point game, with Sheldon hitting a midrange effort to put it back at three points. Then Mikulášiková blew the roof off the arena. With 1:14 remaining, the Slovakian hit the Buckeyes’ fourth shot in a row, a three-point shot, to put Ohio State up six.
McMahon followed up two free throws by Clark with a layup, putting Ohio State up six points. That put McMahon at 33 points, a career-high after hitting 30 last season against the USF Bulls.
In the bonus, Iowa had to send the Buckeyes to the line with 30.3 seconds remaining. Despite having the best player in the world, the Hawkeyes couldn’t come back like Ohio State, falling 100-92 to the Buckeyes in front of a sold-out crowd.
Regardless of the outcome, it’s no hyperbole to say the Schottenstein Center was louder than it has ever been for an Ohio State women’s basketball game. The previous record, 17,525 against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Feb. 27, 2005, was beaten-handedly with the sellout crowd of the fully open Value City Arena.
The Buckeyes crowd hit 18,860, creating a new record-holder that may not be broken anytime in the near future. That is unless Clark returns for a final season.
After today, the Buckeyes head to Champaign, Illinois for a matchup against the Illinois Fighting Illini. Ohio State took the lone game against Illinois last season, coming back from a third-quarter 17-point deficit. Illini sit at 8-9 this season, a down year after Illinois surprised the conference last season with a 22-10 record for first-year Illini coach Shauna Green.
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Buckeyes outlast Caitlin Clark to upset the No. 2 Hawkeyes on a record-breaking day.
The Schottenstein Center on Sunday was at a whole new level of excitement for Ohio State women’s basketball. That’s because of the presence of Iowa Hawkeyes guard Caitlin Clark. In front of a record-breaking, sellout, women's basketball crowd, the odds were stacked against the Buckeyes.
Despite the odds and foul troubles by three starters, Ohio State fed off the crowd, defeating the favored No. 2 Hawkeyes 100-92. Including a 12-point deficit comeback and five minutes of Buckeye-dominant overtime.
From the jump, the energy and noise were palpable. Entering it, the matchup within the matchup was Iowa’s Clark versus former Duke shooting guard Celeste Taylor. The former National Defensive Player of the Year finalist gave Ohio State a defensive matchup it can feel better about going up against the leading scorer and assist-creator in the nation.
Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, Taylor’s presence was missing within the first two minutes of the game thanks to foul trouble. While a single person alone can’t stop Clark, Taylor gave Ohio State the best like-for-like matchup. However, even without Taylor, Ohio State showed that it was up to the task early.
Leading the charge was sophomore forward Cotie McMahon. Seemingly feeding off the crowd, the Centerville, Ohio native gave the capacity crowd something to cheer about. McMahon aggressively went to the basket. It was a performance fans were used to seeing last season in the postseason run where Ohio State went to the Elite Eight.
McMahon led Ohio State with 11 points. Clark responded scoring 13 and sprinkling in two assists.
It was clear early though that head coach Kevin McGuff wanted to break any Iowa attempt at setting up its zone defense. With the three-point shot eluding the Scarlet and Gray, leveraging forwards looked like it was working. At the end of the first quarter it was 26-24 in the Hawkeyes favor, but considering the loss of Taylor, a one-possession game against the No. 2 team in the country was a foundation-builder.
In place of Taylor was guard Rikki Harris. The Buckeyes’ sixth player, also known as the “bench starter,” entered the game and hit two of the three made shots from deep for Ohio State, marking just the third time this season the senior from Indianapolis has knocked down multiple three-point attempts.
Ohio State returned all five starters to the court for the second quarter and continued the inside game with McMahon. Although the forward missed two free throws to start the 10 minutes, it did put the Hawkeyes bigs in foul trouble. Both Hannah Stuelke, who started after missing Iowa’s Tuesday game against Wisconsin, and Sharon Goodman went to the bench with two fouls apiece.
Defensively, the Buckeyes' strong first-quarter presence had a lull in the second. After going up two points, Iowa went on an 11-3 run to go up 38-32. On most of the Hawkeyes’ five scoring possessions, Ohio State wasn’t back fast enough on defense to stop easy transition baskets. It forced a timeout by McGuff with 5:41 left in the half, down six, hoping to stop the bleeding on defense.
The Buckeyes responded well out of that timeout, with Iowa only getting off five shots the rest of the quarter, hitting two. Ohio State then found the deep shot, courtesy of guard Jacy Sheldon. After missing all three of her shots in the first quarter, Sheldon led Ohio State with eight points in the second quarter.
Of those eight points, two came from deep. On the first, forward Rebeka Mikulášiková, who had five points and three assists in the first half, drove to the basket from beyond the arc but quickly threw a no-look pass to Sheldon, converting the attempt. Then, with the Buckeyes down five with less than a minute to play, the Dublin, Ohio native hit her second, from the corner, to put Ohio State down two points heading into the halftime locker room.
Clark did what she does in the first half, scoring 20 points, but rebounds and assists were down slightly. The superstar senior from Des Moines had four assists and only two rebounds in the first half, with Ohio State winning the rebounding margin 17-16 in the first 20 minutes. McMahon’s 12 points led all Buckeyes.
To start the second half, fouls crept up again on Taylor while trying to defend Clark. After stopping a Clark drive to the basket, and knocking the ball free. With a review, the call stood and Taylor went back to the bench. Joining her soon after was Iowa forward Kate Martin, as the Iowa senior quickly picked up her fourth. At that point in the game, nine players across both teams had at least two fouls, with the teams combing for 28 in two and a half quarters, leaving a game that didn’t feature too much flow.
Iowa responded, playing a strong inside game themselves, mirroring what made the Buckeyes successful in the first quarter. The Hawkeyes went on a seven-point run, extending the lead to eight points, the largest of the game to that point. In the run, the Buckeyes missed all five attempted shots and needed to help themselves to make it a game again. It came from an unlikely source.
Guard Emma Shumate, who had just entered the game in the third quarter, hit a three on her first touch of the ball in the game. Then, on the next offensive possession did it again. If you’re keeping track at home, that’s six points in 44 seconds for the sophomore from Dresden, Ohio. The six-point run cut the lead down to two, but it didn’t last long. The Hawkeyes continued pummeling under the basket, responding with the final five points of the quarter to go back up seven with 10 minutes remaining.
The start of the fourth quarter didn’t instill much confidence in the Buckeyes-leaning crowd. Iowa hit its first two shots of the quarter, a three-point shot by Clark and a running layup by 5-foot-7 Molly Davis over the taller Buckeye defender to increase the lead to 12 points. That forced a quick timeout by Coach McGuff with 8:49 remaining.
Out of the timeout, McMahon showed what the strategy could be to end the game, going straight at the basket, and earning a foul and a free throw in the process. It gave Ohio State a more manageable nine-point deficit.
McMahon hit another layup. Then Sheldon followed up with one of her own. It was like Coach McGuff was daring Iowa to try and defend and hear more whistles. That earned an Iowa timeout by head coach Lisa Bluder, taking time to play chess with strategy in the final minutes of the game as the Buckeyes began to mount a run.
Iowa’s response wasn’t as strong as Ohio State’s out of the timeout. McMahon, scoring six out of the next eight points of the game, put the Buckeyes within a point with 3:59 remaining. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, three starters were also at four fouls. Taylor, Thierry, and McMahon, who led Ohio State with 23 points up to that point, had to play carefully.
Continuing to slow the Hawkeyes’ defense, the Buckeyes turned the 12-point deficit into a one-point lead, but it wouldn’t last. Iowa responded hitting the next two baskets in a game that became a yo-yo of back-and-forth opportunities.
McMahon continued her game-changing play. Down three, the forward missed a layup and ripped the ball away from Martin under the basket to get a second chance shot. That shot went in and although McMahon missed a follow-up free throw, Taylor helped.
On the next offensive possession, Taylor had the ball with only 8 seconds remaining on the shot clock, feeling the pressure, the graduate senior responded, hitting a running layup to put the Buckeyes up one.
Then, on defense, Iowa missed a wide-open layup, but Stuelke had two shots at the line. Missing one, it was a tied game, and that’s how it'd stay. Sheldon took the last shot of the game, clanging off the rim on a three-attempt, sending the game to overtime.
McMahon hit the first shot of the overtime period, a minute into the five, with Iowa missing its first two attempts with the ball. Then, the Buckeyes benefited from a miss by the referees, giving Ohio State possession on a play that looked out on Thierry. From that extra possession, McMahon made it to the line, making it a three-point Ohio State lead.
Clark cut the lead to one, going solo on a layup attempt against Taylor, still playing cautiously with the next foul taking her out. Then McMahon kept attacking. The forward hit a layup and went to the line, thanks to a foul by Clark. The sophomore loved the moment and scored her 31st points of the game, making it a two-possession contest.
Responding was Clark again, hitting a three-point shot, making it a one-point game, with Sheldon hitting a midrange effort to put it back at three points. Then Mikulášiková blew the roof off the arena. With 1:14 remaining, the Slovakian hit the Buckeyes’ fourth shot in a row, a three-point shot, to put Ohio State up six.
McMahon followed up two free throws by Clark with a layup, putting Ohio State up six points. That put McMahon at 33 points, a career-high after hitting 30 last season against the USF Bulls.
In the bonus, Iowa had to send the Buckeyes to the line with 30.3 seconds remaining. Despite having the best player in the world, the Hawkeyes couldn’t come back like Ohio State, falling 100-92 to the Buckeyes in front of a sold-out crowd.
Record-Breaking Crowd
Regardless of the outcome, it’s no hyperbole to say the Schottenstein Center was louder than it has ever been for an Ohio State women’s basketball game. The previous record, 17,525 against the Penn State Nittany Lions on Feb. 27, 2005, was beaten-handedly with the sellout crowd of the fully open Value City Arena.
The Buckeyes crowd hit 18,860, creating a new record-holder that may not be broken anytime in the near future. That is unless Clark returns for a final season.
What’s Next
After today, the Buckeyes head to Champaign, Illinois for a matchup against the Illinois Fighting Illini. Ohio State took the lone game against Illinois last season, coming back from a third-quarter 17-point deficit. Illini sit at 8-9 this season, a down year after Illinois surprised the conference last season with a 22-10 record for first-year Illini coach Shauna Green.
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