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LGHL Ohio State women’s basketball clinch No. 3 seed in Big Ten Tournament
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Ohio State women’s basketball clinch No. 3 seed in Big Ten Tournament
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 Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images
The Buckeyes tournament road is now clear. Here are the teams they could face
That’s it, the regular season is over. Now all eyes shift towards the Big Ten Tournament and this season, the Buckeyes clinched the No. 3 seed, giving Ohio State its fourth consecutive year with a top-four conference finish. Here’s what to know about the tournament and the potential road to a first Big Ten tournament trophy since 2018.
To get there, the Buckeyes have a tough road that likely includes needing to beat either or both the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans. Before Ohio State thinks that far ahead, they start their tournament journey in the fourth quarterfinal game of Friday’s slate of matchups. The start time is up in the air though, starting 25 minutes after the third game of the night beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. That means a likely start time around 9:00 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.
There is one of three potential opponents for the Buckeyes in the quarterfinals. On Wednesday, the No. 11 Iowa Hawkeyes and No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers play in the first round, starting roughly around 8:30 p.m. ET on Peacock. Ohio State beat both of the sides in the regular season, but there’s still one more game for whoever comes out on top.
On Thursday, the winner of Wisconsin and Iowa faces off against the No. 6 Michigan State. Spartans for a chance to play the Buckeyes on Friday. The second round game starts around 9:00 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.
Winning in the quarterfinals is by no means a guarantee. Take last year for example. The Buckeyes came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed and Maryland humbled Ohio State 82-61. Now, this year’s program is different than last year when the 23-24 Big Ten regular season champions came into games seemingly expecting a win to come their way. A lack of grit that hurt the Buckeyes not only in the Big Ten Tournament but the second round of March Madness too.
Last season’s conference tournament upset for Ohio State was the first time a Kevin McGuff-coached Buckeyes team came into the tournament in the quarterfinals and lost. Should that trend continue on Friday, Ohio State potentially faces the UCLA Bruins in the semifinal.
Back on Feb. 5, the Scarlet and Gray tied up the Bruins 44-44 within the first minute of the fourth quarter but UCLA surged ahead to win 65-52.
Now, there is a chance of upset in the quarterfinals for the Los Angeles side, but the season showed that there’s a gap between the top two of the conference and the remaining 16 teams.
Saturday night, the Bruins and Trojans battled for the Big Ten regular season title, with Watkins leading USC in a one-sided game against UCLA. However, an unfortunate prize for the Trojans is playing Friday at noon ET, which is 9:00 a.m. PT. So, although it seems like the safe bet to put the Trojans and Bruins in the Big Ten Tournament final, anything can happen during tournament time.
Click here to see the full bracket
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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 Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images
The Buckeyes tournament road is now clear. Here are the teams they could face
That’s it, the regular season is over. Now all eyes shift towards the Big Ten Tournament and this season, the Buckeyes clinched the No. 3 seed, giving Ohio State its fourth consecutive year with a top-four conference finish. Here’s what to know about the tournament and the potential road to a first Big Ten tournament trophy since 2018.
To get there, the Buckeyes have a tough road that likely includes needing to beat either or both the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans. Before Ohio State thinks that far ahead, they start their tournament journey in the fourth quarterfinal game of Friday’s slate of matchups. The start time is up in the air though, starting 25 minutes after the third game of the night beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET. That means a likely start time around 9:00 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.
There is one of three potential opponents for the Buckeyes in the quarterfinals. On Wednesday, the No. 11 Iowa Hawkeyes and No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers play in the first round, starting roughly around 8:30 p.m. ET on Peacock. Ohio State beat both of the sides in the regular season, but there’s still one more game for whoever comes out on top.
On Thursday, the winner of Wisconsin and Iowa faces off against the No. 6 Michigan State. Spartans for a chance to play the Buckeyes on Friday. The second round game starts around 9:00 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.
Winning in the quarterfinals is by no means a guarantee. Take last year for example. The Buckeyes came into the tournament as the No. 1 seed and Maryland humbled Ohio State 82-61. Now, this year’s program is different than last year when the 23-24 Big Ten regular season champions came into games seemingly expecting a win to come their way. A lack of grit that hurt the Buckeyes not only in the Big Ten Tournament but the second round of March Madness too.
Last season’s conference tournament upset for Ohio State was the first time a Kevin McGuff-coached Buckeyes team came into the tournament in the quarterfinals and lost. Should that trend continue on Friday, Ohio State potentially faces the UCLA Bruins in the semifinal.
Back on Feb. 5, the Scarlet and Gray tied up the Bruins 44-44 within the first minute of the fourth quarter but UCLA surged ahead to win 65-52.
Now, there is a chance of upset in the quarterfinals for the Los Angeles side, but the season showed that there’s a gap between the top two of the conference and the remaining 16 teams.
Saturday night, the Bruins and Trojans battled for the Big Ten regular season title, with Watkins leading USC in a one-sided game against UCLA. However, an unfortunate prize for the Trojans is playing Friday at noon ET, which is 9:00 a.m. PT. So, although it seems like the safe bet to put the Trojans and Bruins in the Big Ten Tournament final, anything can happen during tournament time.
Click here to see the full bracket
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LGHL Ohio State falls on overtime last-second shot in regular season finale at Maryland 93-90
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Ohio State falls on overtime last-second shot in regular season finale at Maryland 93-90
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 Greg Fiume/Getty Images
In a barn-burner of a game, the Buckeyes came up short, but showed tons of grit.
On the final day of the Big Ten regular season, No. 12 Ohio State women’s basketball traveled to College Park, Maryland to face the No. 19 Maryland Terrapins. The Buckeyes and Terrapins showed why the Big Ten schedule makers put the two teams against each other twice this season. In a chippy, back-and-forth matchup, Ohio State had the chance to win in overtime but came up short, falling to the terrapins 93-90.
Before the game began, the Terrapins honored senior guard and Aurora, Ohio native, Shyanne Sellers. The team leader and fan favorite received a standing ovation, playing in her final game in Maryland. Then, on the court, Sellers gave Maryland fans something to cheer for again, hitting two three-point shots in the first 91 seconds of the game.
It got the Terps going, but the Buckeyes kept the game close with hot shooting from beyond the arc. The Buckeyes missed their first attempted three but hit the next three. It cut an early six-point lead for the home side into a single possession game but then shooting went cold.
The Buckeyes missed their next six shots from the field and settled for five free throws in the final half of the quarter, while Maryland attacked the basket. Maryland had 10 points in the paint and out rebounded Ohio State 12-7 in the first 10 minutes.
To make matters worse for the visiting Buckeyes, foul trouble hampered both point guard Jaloni Cambridge and forward Cotie McMahon with both picking up two in the first quarter and spending time on the bench.
Ohio State regrouped in the second quarter and got off to a hot start with 11 of the first 16 points of the period. Each time Maryland made a basket, the Buckeyes would hit two or three in response and with 3:33 remaining in the half Ohio State took the lead, 33-32. Not part of that lead was Jaloni Cambridge, who picked up her third foul but still had eight points in 14 minutes before leaving for the bench for the remainder of the half.
Head coach Kevin McGuff found the most success in the second quarter with a different lineup than usual, with guards Madison Greene, Kennedy Cambridge and Chance Gray playing with forward Taylor Thierry and center Elsa Lemmilä. The Finnish freshman Lemmilä helped Ohio State out rebound the Terps in the second quarter, 9-8, with Lemmilä grabbing three.
However, McGuff only played McMahon four minutes in the second quarter, despite having two fouls. That’s not an abnormal coaching decision, but it came when Cambridge was playing with two fouls in the quarter.
With 1:50 remaining in the second quarter, Ohio State had a three-point lead that could have been more if not for sloppy passing under the basket. The first came on a fast break, with guard Kennedy Cambridge trying to find Thierry on the other side of the paint, but it went directly to two Maryland players. Within 30 seconds, Gray did the same and Sellers made Ohio State pay the second time with a three-point shot that cut the Buckeyes lead to one point, 38-37.
That's where the game stood at halftime, with the Scarlet and Gray holding a 38-37 lead with Thierry leading the Buckeyes with 11 points. Thierry also had to play the entire 20 minutes of the first half due to foul trouble on the Buckeyes.
The two sides traded baskets to start the second half, but then both sides lost players for different reasons. For Jaloni Cambridge, the guard picked up her fourth foul in a baffling way. Maryland forward Christina Dalce got an offensive rebound and second chance basket. Jaloni Cambridge’s back was to Dalce, didn’t get wrapped up in the player and made no contact with the forward as she went to the basket. The call perplexed McGuff too, pleading for an explanation from the officiating crew.
Then, a minute later, Sellers went up for a layup, tried to get contact and went to the court. The guard needed help up off the floor and was carried to the locker room for medical attention. Sellers already came into the game working through a right knee injury suffered back on Jan. 20 against the Texas Longhorns.
With the two stars out of the game, the matchup didn't lack any excitement. If anything, it got more heated when Maryland guard Kaylene Smikle and Ohio State forward Ajae Petty went for a loose ball. Smikle got the loose ball and threw it off Petty before it went out, giving the Terps the possession. On the inbound, Petty picked up a block but Dalce got a basket and then earned a technical for getting in the face of Petty.
At the 5:08 mark in the third quarter, as Greene took foul shots for the Buckeyes, the crowd erupted to the return of Sellers. Just walking to the bench got the crowd on its feet and Sellers walked directly to the scorer’s table to enter the game.
The guard hit three free throws for the rest of the quarter, but overall the quarter looked like a game where both sides were getting caught up in the emotions of the moment. Shots were rushed, more fouls were called and the two teams kept the game within two possessions, with Maryland leading for nearly nine minutes of the period. McMahon earned a fourth foul for a push and the home side celebrated the call emphatically, with two players signaling an exaggerated push at mid court.
To start the fourth quarter, Jaloni Cambridge hit a layup to give the Buckeyes a one-point lead but then things fell apart for the visitors. Maryland responded with a five-point run and Thierry picked up two more fouls and went to the bench. Ohio State had three starters with four fouls and over eight minutes left in the game, trying to cut into a four-point deficit.
Jaloni Cambridge was the first player to succumb to fouls when the officials called a charge against the freshman. Before and after the foul, Smikle added four points to extend the home lead to six points and McGuff called a timeout to try and stop the Maryland momentum and regroup.
Out of the timeout, McMahon threw the ball away, trying to get Petty in the backcourt. That play summed up how the game was going, with Maryland holding all the momentum and Ohio State playing disjointed basketball. Smikle hit a three to put the game up nine points in the Terps’ favor. With six minutes remaining, it didn’t look like the Buckeyes had anything left, and were playing frustrated.
When it looked like the Buckeyes were without a spark, Ohio State went on a six-point run to get the game back within a possession. They did it by forcing two turnovers and grabbing three offensive rebounds. The intensity Ohio State strives to play with every game came out with the game on the line.
Ohio State tied the game with a Greene three and Thierry steal and layup seconds later. However, Kennedy Cambridge suffered a knee injury during the basket, putting a half on the game with 2:59 remaining. The redshirt sophomore was in clear pain and coach McGuff helped get the guard off the court.
Like Sellers though, Kennedy Cambridge returned for Ohio State and neither side at this point wanted to lose with both sides rarely missing in the final 3:32 of the game. Maryland went 3-of-3, with two free throws, while the Buckeyes went five-of-five. With 29.3 seconds left, the game was tied and Ohio State needed a defensive stop to have a chance.
Sellers had that final chance, but missed a turnaround jumper while trying to earn a foul call on Kennedy Cambridge who stopped the shot, sending the game to overtime.
This season, the Buckeyes already had two overtime wins and never in program history did Ohio State have three overtime wins in the same season. Despite history, the Buckeyes started by scoring the first five points of the period through Greene and Thierry.
Maryland responded with the next two baskets, making it a one-point game. McMahon responded with a layup and Smikle tried to run the court to do the same, but Greene fouled the guard in the process. It put Ohio State in a tough position because one more foul for Greene would mean no point guards available on the Buckeye roster.
McMahon kept going, hitting another basket to put the Buckeyes up three with 1:38 remaining. Maryland missed a three on their next possession but got the ball and called a timeout before a diving Greene could earn a jump ball possession. Out of the timeout, Smikle tied it at 87-87 with a three-point basket, forcing McGuff to call a timeout of his own.
Ohio State lost the ball on the inbound but a timely rebound by Petty erased the error. On the subsequent possession, McMahon went up for a basket and missed but got a second opportunity that turned into a fifth foul for Emily Fisher. McMahon hit one free throw to give Ohio State a one-point lead with 33.3 seconds remaining.
Guard Sarah Te-Biasu hit a clutch layup to put MD up one point with 26.5 seconds remaining but Ohio State had the last shot opportunity. Kennedy Cambridge took it, trying to hit a midrange shot that Smikle got a hand on but the refs called a turnover.
Ohio State had to foul and sent Kubek went to the line who missed one. The Buckeyes tied it on layup by Greene but Te-Biasu hit a three with a second remaining to come away with the Maryland upset victory.
Thierry led all Buckeyes with 18 points, while Petty added 12 points and nine rebounds. Maryland’s Smikle led all scorers with 21 points and seven rebounds, with Sellers not far behind with 17 points and seven assists.
With the regular season done, Ohio State heads to Indianapolis for a Friday quarterfinal in the Big Ten Tournament. The Buckeyes locked into the No. 3 seed and a double-bye in the tournament, meaning they’ll face either the No. 11, No. 14 or No. 6 seeded side. The 11 and 14 seeds play on Wednesday to face the six seed on Thursday. Ohio State will face the winner of that game.
The Big Ten will announce the full tournament seeding at the end of Sunday’s games but as of publishing it looks like the No. 11 Nebraska Cornhuskers will play the No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers, with the winner playing the No. 6 Michigan Wolverines.
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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 Greg Fiume/Getty Images
In a barn-burner of a game, the Buckeyes came up short, but showed tons of grit.
On the final day of the Big Ten regular season, No. 12 Ohio State women’s basketball traveled to College Park, Maryland to face the No. 19 Maryland Terrapins. The Buckeyes and Terrapins showed why the Big Ten schedule makers put the two teams against each other twice this season. In a chippy, back-and-forth matchup, Ohio State had the chance to win in overtime but came up short, falling to the terrapins 93-90.
Before the game began, the Terrapins honored senior guard and Aurora, Ohio native, Shyanne Sellers. The team leader and fan favorite received a standing ovation, playing in her final game in Maryland. Then, on the court, Sellers gave Maryland fans something to cheer for again, hitting two three-point shots in the first 91 seconds of the game.
It got the Terps going, but the Buckeyes kept the game close with hot shooting from beyond the arc. The Buckeyes missed their first attempted three but hit the next three. It cut an early six-point lead for the home side into a single possession game but then shooting went cold.
The Buckeyes missed their next six shots from the field and settled for five free throws in the final half of the quarter, while Maryland attacked the basket. Maryland had 10 points in the paint and out rebounded Ohio State 12-7 in the first 10 minutes.
To make matters worse for the visiting Buckeyes, foul trouble hampered both point guard Jaloni Cambridge and forward Cotie McMahon with both picking up two in the first quarter and spending time on the bench.
Ohio State regrouped in the second quarter and got off to a hot start with 11 of the first 16 points of the period. Each time Maryland made a basket, the Buckeyes would hit two or three in response and with 3:33 remaining in the half Ohio State took the lead, 33-32. Not part of that lead was Jaloni Cambridge, who picked up her third foul but still had eight points in 14 minutes before leaving for the bench for the remainder of the half.
Head coach Kevin McGuff found the most success in the second quarter with a different lineup than usual, with guards Madison Greene, Kennedy Cambridge and Chance Gray playing with forward Taylor Thierry and center Elsa Lemmilä. The Finnish freshman Lemmilä helped Ohio State out rebound the Terps in the second quarter, 9-8, with Lemmilä grabbing three.
However, McGuff only played McMahon four minutes in the second quarter, despite having two fouls. That’s not an abnormal coaching decision, but it came when Cambridge was playing with two fouls in the quarter.
With 1:50 remaining in the second quarter, Ohio State had a three-point lead that could have been more if not for sloppy passing under the basket. The first came on a fast break, with guard Kennedy Cambridge trying to find Thierry on the other side of the paint, but it went directly to two Maryland players. Within 30 seconds, Gray did the same and Sellers made Ohio State pay the second time with a three-point shot that cut the Buckeyes lead to one point, 38-37.
That's where the game stood at halftime, with the Scarlet and Gray holding a 38-37 lead with Thierry leading the Buckeyes with 11 points. Thierry also had to play the entire 20 minutes of the first half due to foul trouble on the Buckeyes.
The two sides traded baskets to start the second half, but then both sides lost players for different reasons. For Jaloni Cambridge, the guard picked up her fourth foul in a baffling way. Maryland forward Christina Dalce got an offensive rebound and second chance basket. Jaloni Cambridge’s back was to Dalce, didn’t get wrapped up in the player and made no contact with the forward as she went to the basket. The call perplexed McGuff too, pleading for an explanation from the officiating crew.
Then, a minute later, Sellers went up for a layup, tried to get contact and went to the court. The guard needed help up off the floor and was carried to the locker room for medical attention. Sellers already came into the game working through a right knee injury suffered back on Jan. 20 against the Texas Longhorns.
With the two stars out of the game, the matchup didn't lack any excitement. If anything, it got more heated when Maryland guard Kaylene Smikle and Ohio State forward Ajae Petty went for a loose ball. Smikle got the loose ball and threw it off Petty before it went out, giving the Terps the possession. On the inbound, Petty picked up a block but Dalce got a basket and then earned a technical for getting in the face of Petty.
At the 5:08 mark in the third quarter, as Greene took foul shots for the Buckeyes, the crowd erupted to the return of Sellers. Just walking to the bench got the crowd on its feet and Sellers walked directly to the scorer’s table to enter the game.
The guard hit three free throws for the rest of the quarter, but overall the quarter looked like a game where both sides were getting caught up in the emotions of the moment. Shots were rushed, more fouls were called and the two teams kept the game within two possessions, with Maryland leading for nearly nine minutes of the period. McMahon earned a fourth foul for a push and the home side celebrated the call emphatically, with two players signaling an exaggerated push at mid court.
To start the fourth quarter, Jaloni Cambridge hit a layup to give the Buckeyes a one-point lead but then things fell apart for the visitors. Maryland responded with a five-point run and Thierry picked up two more fouls and went to the bench. Ohio State had three starters with four fouls and over eight minutes left in the game, trying to cut into a four-point deficit.
Jaloni Cambridge was the first player to succumb to fouls when the officials called a charge against the freshman. Before and after the foul, Smikle added four points to extend the home lead to six points and McGuff called a timeout to try and stop the Maryland momentum and regroup.
Out of the timeout, McMahon threw the ball away, trying to get Petty in the backcourt. That play summed up how the game was going, with Maryland holding all the momentum and Ohio State playing disjointed basketball. Smikle hit a three to put the game up nine points in the Terps’ favor. With six minutes remaining, it didn’t look like the Buckeyes had anything left, and were playing frustrated.
When it looked like the Buckeyes were without a spark, Ohio State went on a six-point run to get the game back within a possession. They did it by forcing two turnovers and grabbing three offensive rebounds. The intensity Ohio State strives to play with every game came out with the game on the line.
Ohio State tied the game with a Greene three and Thierry steal and layup seconds later. However, Kennedy Cambridge suffered a knee injury during the basket, putting a half on the game with 2:59 remaining. The redshirt sophomore was in clear pain and coach McGuff helped get the guard off the court.
Like Sellers though, Kennedy Cambridge returned for Ohio State and neither side at this point wanted to lose with both sides rarely missing in the final 3:32 of the game. Maryland went 3-of-3, with two free throws, while the Buckeyes went five-of-five. With 29.3 seconds left, the game was tied and Ohio State needed a defensive stop to have a chance.
Sellers had that final chance, but missed a turnaround jumper while trying to earn a foul call on Kennedy Cambridge who stopped the shot, sending the game to overtime.
This season, the Buckeyes already had two overtime wins and never in program history did Ohio State have three overtime wins in the same season. Despite history, the Buckeyes started by scoring the first five points of the period through Greene and Thierry.
Maryland responded with the next two baskets, making it a one-point game. McMahon responded with a layup and Smikle tried to run the court to do the same, but Greene fouled the guard in the process. It put Ohio State in a tough position because one more foul for Greene would mean no point guards available on the Buckeye roster.
McMahon kept going, hitting another basket to put the Buckeyes up three with 1:38 remaining. Maryland missed a three on their next possession but got the ball and called a timeout before a diving Greene could earn a jump ball possession. Out of the timeout, Smikle tied it at 87-87 with a three-point basket, forcing McGuff to call a timeout of his own.
Ohio State lost the ball on the inbound but a timely rebound by Petty erased the error. On the subsequent possession, McMahon went up for a basket and missed but got a second opportunity that turned into a fifth foul for Emily Fisher. McMahon hit one free throw to give Ohio State a one-point lead with 33.3 seconds remaining.
Guard Sarah Te-Biasu hit a clutch layup to put MD up one point with 26.5 seconds remaining but Ohio State had the last shot opportunity. Kennedy Cambridge took it, trying to hit a midrange shot that Smikle got a hand on but the refs called a turnover.
Ohio State had to foul and sent Kubek went to the line who missed one. The Buckeyes tied it on layup by Greene but Te-Biasu hit a three with a second remaining to come away with the Maryland upset victory.
Thierry led all Buckeyes with 18 points, while Petty added 12 points and nine rebounds. Maryland’s Smikle led all scorers with 21 points and seven rebounds, with Sellers not far behind with 17 points and seven assists.
What’s Next
With the regular season done, Ohio State heads to Indianapolis for a Friday quarterfinal in the Big Ten Tournament. The Buckeyes locked into the No. 3 seed and a double-bye in the tournament, meaning they’ll face either the No. 11, No. 14 or No. 6 seeded side. The 11 and 14 seeds play on Wednesday to face the six seed on Thursday. Ohio State will face the winner of that game.
The Big Ten will announce the full tournament seeding at the end of Sunday’s games but as of publishing it looks like the No. 11 Nebraska Cornhuskers will play the No. 14 Wisconsin Badgers, with the winner playing the No. 6 Michigan Wolverines.
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LGHL Game Preview: No. 12 Ohio State women’s basketball heads to No. 19 Maryland
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Game Preview: No. 12 Ohio State women’s basketball heads to No. 19 Maryland
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Buckeyes play their final conference game on the road, facing Brenda Frese and the Terrapins in College Park
The Big Ten gauntlet is finally coming to an end. After expansion pushed the conference to 18 teams and to a whole different oceanic coastline, the great college expansion experiment closes its first chapter on Sunday. For Ohio State women’s basketball, that means a matchup against the No. 19 Maryland Terrapins.
With the conference growth, it's the lone Big Ten opponent that either side faces twice in the regular season. While that usually means getting to adjust to a team and fix errors from the previous clash, with injuries and cold spells hurting both teams, it’s almost a brand new matchup when the two sides take to College Park on Sunday.
The last time these two teams played, the Terrapins out rebounded the Buckeyes and outshot them from beyond the arc. Even so, the 17 turnovers forced by Ohio State was enough to swing the tide in the Buckeyes’ favor for a 74-66 win.
This time, the Terrapins are a different team than the Buckeyes last played, in good and bad ways for Maryland. The good way is the return of guard Shyanne Sellers. Maryland’s leader on and off the court suffered a knee injury three days before playing the Buckeyes, missing the game against Ohio State.
Sellers returned six days later and has slowly been increasing her productivity over the last eight games, culminating with a big performance in the second half against the Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday.
With 2:48 remaining in the third quarter, the Hoosiers cut a once 12-point third quarter deficit down to two points. At the time, Sellers had two points in the first 27:52 of the game. Sellers scored 21 points in the final 12:48, going 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and using her veteran savvy to get to the free throw line.
However, Sellers also picked up an intentional foul against Chloe Moore-McNeil who went on a break, which shows one concern for Sellers — she’s not close to 100 percent healthy. Head coach Brenda Frese has Sellers at about 70 to 75 percent healthy, according to a pregame interview with the Big Ten broadcasting team Thursday. Against Moore-McNeil, Sellers didn’t have the speed to keep up and instead used two arms to grab the streaking guard to stop her in her tracks.
Injured or not, Sellers still showed how dangerous the guard can be, and Ohio State can’t afford to leave her open on the perimeter.
That will be difficult for the Buckeyes with guard Kaylene Smikle in the game. The junior heads to the basket consistently with a full head of steam. Smikle is only second in the conference in free throws behind USC Trojan JuJu Watkins, showing how aggressive the Maryland guard truly is when she gets the ball in her hands.
Ohio State will crash to the paint to try and stop Smikle. When they do, Sellers will have opportunities, unless guard/forward Taylor Thierry shuts the senior down. Thierry is having a quiet year offensively but her best defensive performance in her final days of college basketball. Before fouling out against USC, Thierry held JuJu Watkins to 10 points in over three quarters. If that Thierry plays Sellers well, it could negate some of those veteran benefits the Terps have enjoyed the last two seasons with Sellers in charge.
What about the bad news on the Terps roster? They are likely to be without guard Saylor Poffenbarger.
On Feb. 20, Poffenbarger rolled her right ankle in practice before taking on the Northwestern Wildcats. Poffenbarger still played but during the game twisted her left ankle, which ended her game and ruled her out against Indiana on Thursday, with the guard wearing a boot on her left lower leg. Ohio State fans have seen these issues this year on their own team, with guard Ava Watson missing the last four games following a rough ankle sprain of her own.
With Poffenbarger questionable, it potentially leaves Frese’s side without its top rebounder and third best scorer. Poffenbarger also hits the second most three-point shots for Maryland per game, leaving a gaps all over the court.
It means Maryland will rotate a group of six consistent names and then two additional to give starters some rest. That gives Ohio State an advantage because of the speed head coach Kevin McGuff’s side prefers.
Against the Terps, point guard Jaloni Cambridge led all scorers with 20 points, adding eight rebounds in the Ohio State victory. What will be interesting in the matchup is how Maryland adjusts to playing Cambridge for the second time. This is the first time any team has played the freshman for a second time, but Cambridge is also pushing her game to another level as she adjusts to college basketball.
In the last eight games, Cambridge leads the Buckeyes with 19.4 points per game. Another key item to note in the last game between these two sides is guard Chance Gray had zero points, and forward Ajae Petty had seven. The game was at the start of a cold spell for both Buckeyes that’s defrosted of late.
Petty comes in on a record day against the No. 23 ranked Michigan State Spartans, scoring 23 points on a perfect 11-of-11 from the floor with 15 rebounds. Petty is playing more aggressively on the boards in the last two games and it’s at the right time with Maryland’s Christina Dalce’s 7.8 rebounds per game coming up.
With Poffenbarger potentially out, the Buckeyes rebounding should have a better day than the -11 margin against the Terps in January. Since then, freshman center Elsa Lemmilä is also more confident, giving the Buckeyes a two-headed monster inside the paint. Should the Petty and Lemmilä trend continue, it will make the day easier for the perimeter athletes of Ohio State.
Then there’s forward Cotie McMahon, who had a big day the last time she came to College Park. Last season, McMahon had a nice day with 16 points, but showed up even more on the boards with six offensive rebounds in the second half. It put away what was a close game between the two teams.
Lately, McMahon’s solid performances have been overshadowed by the play of Jaloni Cambridge’s 33 points against Michigan State and 21 points by Chance Gray over the Purdue Boilermakers in the game last Sunday. It benefits the Buckeyes to have more than just two players picking up the offensive load, but with McMahon she’s always there in case Ohio State needs a spark.
G- Jaloni Cambridge
G- Chance Gray
G- Taylor Thierry
F- Cotie McMahon
F- Ajae Petty
Maryland
G- Kaylene Smikle
G- Sarah Te-Biasu
G- Shyanne Sellers
F- Christina Dalce
F- Allie Kubek
With Poffenbarger not likely to play, the Buckeyes will have a slight advantage on the boards. Ohio State will stay closer in the rebounding margin than their last time facing the Terrapins, although it being the last game in College Park for seniors, it’ll be a close game.
Thierry will have a strong offensive performance for the Buckeyes, while continuing her strong defense that sits her second in the conference in steals. The game will be close in the third quarter but Jaloni Cambridge will put the game away for Ohio State, with the Buckeyes going on a late run with Maryland reeling.
Date: Sunday, Feb. 1, 2025
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
Where: XFINITY Center, College Park, MD
TV: FS1
Stream: FOX Sports App
Ohio State is already locked in to their seed for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. The Buckeyes will be No. 3 in the field when the conference finalizes the bracket and shares it following Sunday’s games.
The Scarlet and Gray hold the tiebreaker over the Maryland Terrapins, who could tie the Buckeyes’ conference record if they win Sunday afternoon. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head record, which would be tied at 1-1 if Maryland wins. There aren’t any specifics in regard to an aggregate point structure in the head-to-head. It only uses wins and losses.
That pushes the tiebreaker to a second round where the two teams go down the Big Ten standings and see who has a win over the other side higher up the standings. The Buckeyes win over the Illinois Fighting Illini to start the conference calendar, and a loss for the Terps against head coach Shauna Green’s side, means Ohio State owns the second tiebreaker.
On Sunday, the rest of the fun will be what happens to the remaining seeds in the tournament. It all starts at 1:30 p.m. ET when the Michigan Wolverines head to Champaign to face the Fighting Illini. Get your comfy clothes on, find your favorite couch imprint, and get ready for a day of Big Ten basketball.
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The Buckeyes play their final conference game on the road, facing Brenda Frese and the Terrapins in College Park
The Big Ten gauntlet is finally coming to an end. After expansion pushed the conference to 18 teams and to a whole different oceanic coastline, the great college expansion experiment closes its first chapter on Sunday. For Ohio State women’s basketball, that means a matchup against the No. 19 Maryland Terrapins.
With the conference growth, it's the lone Big Ten opponent that either side faces twice in the regular season. While that usually means getting to adjust to a team and fix errors from the previous clash, with injuries and cold spells hurting both teams, it’s almost a brand new matchup when the two sides take to College Park on Sunday.
Preview
The last time these two teams played, the Terrapins out rebounded the Buckeyes and outshot them from beyond the arc. Even so, the 17 turnovers forced by Ohio State was enough to swing the tide in the Buckeyes’ favor for a 74-66 win.
This time, the Terrapins are a different team than the Buckeyes last played, in good and bad ways for Maryland. The good way is the return of guard Shyanne Sellers. Maryland’s leader on and off the court suffered a knee injury three days before playing the Buckeyes, missing the game against Ohio State.
Sellers returned six days later and has slowly been increasing her productivity over the last eight games, culminating with a big performance in the second half against the Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday.
With 2:48 remaining in the third quarter, the Hoosiers cut a once 12-point third quarter deficit down to two points. At the time, Sellers had two points in the first 27:52 of the game. Sellers scored 21 points in the final 12:48, going 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and using her veteran savvy to get to the free throw line.
However, Sellers also picked up an intentional foul against Chloe Moore-McNeil who went on a break, which shows one concern for Sellers — she’s not close to 100 percent healthy. Head coach Brenda Frese has Sellers at about 70 to 75 percent healthy, according to a pregame interview with the Big Ten broadcasting team Thursday. Against Moore-McNeil, Sellers didn’t have the speed to keep up and instead used two arms to grab the streaking guard to stop her in her tracks.
Injured or not, Sellers still showed how dangerous the guard can be, and Ohio State can’t afford to leave her open on the perimeter.
That will be difficult for the Buckeyes with guard Kaylene Smikle in the game. The junior heads to the basket consistently with a full head of steam. Smikle is only second in the conference in free throws behind USC Trojan JuJu Watkins, showing how aggressive the Maryland guard truly is when she gets the ball in her hands.
Ohio State will crash to the paint to try and stop Smikle. When they do, Sellers will have opportunities, unless guard/forward Taylor Thierry shuts the senior down. Thierry is having a quiet year offensively but her best defensive performance in her final days of college basketball. Before fouling out against USC, Thierry held JuJu Watkins to 10 points in over three quarters. If that Thierry plays Sellers well, it could negate some of those veteran benefits the Terps have enjoyed the last two seasons with Sellers in charge.
What about the bad news on the Terps roster? They are likely to be without guard Saylor Poffenbarger.
On Feb. 20, Poffenbarger rolled her right ankle in practice before taking on the Northwestern Wildcats. Poffenbarger still played but during the game twisted her left ankle, which ended her game and ruled her out against Indiana on Thursday, with the guard wearing a boot on her left lower leg. Ohio State fans have seen these issues this year on their own team, with guard Ava Watson missing the last four games following a rough ankle sprain of her own.
With Poffenbarger questionable, it potentially leaves Frese’s side without its top rebounder and third best scorer. Poffenbarger also hits the second most three-point shots for Maryland per game, leaving a gaps all over the court.
It means Maryland will rotate a group of six consistent names and then two additional to give starters some rest. That gives Ohio State an advantage because of the speed head coach Kevin McGuff’s side prefers.
Against the Terps, point guard Jaloni Cambridge led all scorers with 20 points, adding eight rebounds in the Ohio State victory. What will be interesting in the matchup is how Maryland adjusts to playing Cambridge for the second time. This is the first time any team has played the freshman for a second time, but Cambridge is also pushing her game to another level as she adjusts to college basketball.
In the last eight games, Cambridge leads the Buckeyes with 19.4 points per game. Another key item to note in the last game between these two sides is guard Chance Gray had zero points, and forward Ajae Petty had seven. The game was at the start of a cold spell for both Buckeyes that’s defrosted of late.
Petty comes in on a record day against the No. 23 ranked Michigan State Spartans, scoring 23 points on a perfect 11-of-11 from the floor with 15 rebounds. Petty is playing more aggressively on the boards in the last two games and it’s at the right time with Maryland’s Christina Dalce’s 7.8 rebounds per game coming up.
With Poffenbarger potentially out, the Buckeyes rebounding should have a better day than the -11 margin against the Terps in January. Since then, freshman center Elsa Lemmilä is also more confident, giving the Buckeyes a two-headed monster inside the paint. Should the Petty and Lemmilä trend continue, it will make the day easier for the perimeter athletes of Ohio State.
Then there’s forward Cotie McMahon, who had a big day the last time she came to College Park. Last season, McMahon had a nice day with 16 points, but showed up even more on the boards with six offensive rebounds in the second half. It put away what was a close game between the two teams.
Lately, McMahon’s solid performances have been overshadowed by the play of Jaloni Cambridge’s 33 points against Michigan State and 21 points by Chance Gray over the Purdue Boilermakers in the game last Sunday. It benefits the Buckeyes to have more than just two players picking up the offensive load, but with McMahon she’s always there in case Ohio State needs a spark.
Projected Starters
Ohio State
G- Jaloni Cambridge
G- Chance Gray
G- Taylor Thierry
F- Cotie McMahon
F- Ajae Petty
Lineup Notes
- Ajae Petty is fifth in the Big Ten shooting efficiency at 59 percent.
- Elsa Lemmilä’s 57 blocks on the season is the most since Tori McCoy had 59 in the 16-17 season. The freshman record of 159 was set two years prior by Alexa Hart.
- The Buckeyes’ 354 steals this season is the fourth most in program history. The program record is 406 for the 2022-23 season.
Maryland
G- Kaylene Smikle
G- Sarah Te-Biasu
G- Shyanne Sellers
F- Christina Dalce
F- Allie Kubek
Lineup Notes
- Shyanne Sellers is fifth in the Big Ten in turnovers, giving the ball away 3.1 times per game.
- Kaylene Smikle is the only Terp to start every game this season for Maryland.
- Coach Frese used nine different starting lineups this season.
Prediction
With Poffenbarger not likely to play, the Buckeyes will have a slight advantage on the boards. Ohio State will stay closer in the rebounding margin than their last time facing the Terrapins, although it being the last game in College Park for seniors, it’ll be a close game.
Thierry will have a strong offensive performance for the Buckeyes, while continuing her strong defense that sits her second in the conference in steals. The game will be close in the third quarter but Jaloni Cambridge will put the game away for Ohio State, with the Buckeyes going on a late run with Maryland reeling.
How to Watch
Date: Sunday, Feb. 1, 2025
Time: 4:30 p.m. ET
Where: XFINITY Center, College Park, MD
TV: FS1
Stream: FOX Sports App
LGHL Score Prediction: 75-64, Ohio State Buckeyes
Big Ten Tournament Seeding
Ohio State is already locked in to their seed for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament. The Buckeyes will be No. 3 in the field when the conference finalizes the bracket and shares it following Sunday’s games.
The Scarlet and Gray hold the tiebreaker over the Maryland Terrapins, who could tie the Buckeyes’ conference record if they win Sunday afternoon. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head record, which would be tied at 1-1 if Maryland wins. There aren’t any specifics in regard to an aggregate point structure in the head-to-head. It only uses wins and losses.
That pushes the tiebreaker to a second round where the two teams go down the Big Ten standings and see who has a win over the other side higher up the standings. The Buckeyes win over the Illinois Fighting Illini to start the conference calendar, and a loss for the Terps against head coach Shauna Green’s side, means Ohio State owns the second tiebreaker.
On Sunday, the rest of the fun will be what happens to the remaining seeds in the tournament. It all starts at 1:30 p.m. ET when the Michigan Wolverines head to Champaign to face the Fighting Illini. Get your comfy clothes on, find your favorite couch imprint, and get ready for a day of Big Ten basketball.
Continue reading...