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LGHL Ohio State women’s basketball remains optimistic entering postseason play
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Ohio State women’s basketball remains optimistic entering postseason play
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 G Fiume/Getty Images
Despite losing in College Park, the overtime defeat gives the team hope heading into a Friday Big Ten Tournament debut
Last season, Ohio State women’s basketball was on a tear. The Buckeyes won 15 games in a row in conference play, securing the sole ownership of the Big Ten regular season title, setting up what the team hoped was a longer postseason than their trip to the Elite Eight in 2023. Then the wheels fell off.
Head coach Kevin McGuff’s side went to Iowa to face guard Caitlin Clark in her last regular season game in Iowa City. In a contest full of emotion and national attention, Clark secured the NCAA points record from Pete Maravich and the Buckeyes couldn’t overcome the Black and Yellow. A small blip before the postseason, but it proved to be just the first impact that turned into a fast-growing crack in the foundation — then the Maryland Terrapins punched a hole in it.
In the Big Ten Tournament, Ohio State entered as the No. 1 seed, and came in with a track record of not losing in the quarterfinals when entering with a double-bye under McGuff.
However, the Terrapins beat the Buckeyes by 21 points and Ohio State hopped right back on the plane home from Minneapolis, Minnesota to try and regroup for the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes beat the Maine Black Bears, needing to rebound from a tough start, and then couldn’t hold off the Duke Blue Devils in the Second Round of March Madness.
That’s all in the past, but Ohio State stands on the precipice of another March, beginning Friday at the Big Ten Tournament. However, this time things are different.
For one, the team integrated three new starters in the offseason. It’s taken time to get players used to each other, and key leaders from past campaigns are now either in the pros, on the Ohio State bench or both.
Then there’s the second difference - the Buckeyes haven’t been on a tear at all this season. Ohio State won 17 games to start the season, but that was a weak non-conference schedule masquerading as a tear.
Ohio State has been pushed and pulled to this point of the season through strong individual performances from forward Cotie McMahon and freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge. Any tough win was either the by-product of a player reaching new levels of competing or opponents wrestling away leads. There have not been many team battles to overcome adversity, until the final day of the regular season.
The Buckeyes lost in overtime to the Maryland Terrapins 93-90 on a last second overtime three-point winner by Terps guard Sarah Te-Biasu, but that defeat puts Ohio State in a better spot for the postseason, much better than last season.
Against Maryland, Ohio State lacked lineup consistency with McMahon and Cambridge each sitting on the bench for periods of time they would normally be playing due to foul trouble. In the second half, down nine points, it looked like the Buckeyes were on their way to a humbling defeat but a weird thing happened and Ohio State fought and clawed back into the game.
“I was proud of the team, the way we competed,” said McGuff. “I thought our competitive character and effort was where it needed to be.”
McGuff isn’t one who believes a loss is a good way to learn lessons, sharing in the past that winning also lets teams learn lessons, so the positives of how the team competed were followed up with a “but.”
“But we made too many mistakes. A lot of turnovers that led to easy Maryland baskets and a couple opportunities for key defensive stops that we didn’t get.”
Last season, the Buckeyes looked like a team that knew they could win, but the confidence got the best of them at the end of the season and in the postseason. This edition of the Scarlet and Gray doesn’t have that same belief. When the team did, specifically against the Penn State Nittany Lions, it ended in defeat. Penn State entered that game without a Big Ten win on the season and ended the regular season on Sunday with only that one win in conference play.
Not having that kind of confidence is a good thing.
Ohio State can’t afford to expect a win to come to them. There needs to be that fight that the Buckeyes showed without their top scorers on the floor in an environment that goes beyond a normal college basketball game in the Big Ten. Not only were the coaches yelling, but the fans and players joined in. The officiating crew was struggling to keep up with the intensity on and off the court.
Despite the loss, it has the Buckeyes feeling better about heading into the postseason.
“It shows our togetherness, our toughness,” said graduate senior guard Madison Greene. It gives us confidence even if we didn’t have a great outcome today, coming into the Big Ten Tournament and March, I think if we have that same mindset and energy I think we’ll be good.”
Greene was part of the group leading that comeback charge, playing 33 minutes, which is her most in a game coming off the bench. In large part due to Cambridge only playing 18 minutes before fouling out. Greene added 12 points, her highest total in Big Ten play this season in a subdued role.
The Buckeyes also leaned on the play of guard Taylor Thierry, who played 43 minutes and led all Ohio State scorers with 21 points. A performance unlike Thierry this year after the senior took a more backseat role in the offense.
While the cast of characters is different, the show is the same for Ohio State, and they are playing more like the 22-23 edition of this program. That team had to battle to come back in multiple games. That team didn’t lack fight. For any tough, lopsided, defeat there were two-to-three double-digit comebacks.
This season’s edition of the Buckeyes has the talent and it’s proven that throughout the season. Outside of McMahon and Cambridge, guard Chance Gray has games hitting deep shots with frequency, forward Ajae Petty is on a three-game double-double streak and bench players like Kennedy Cambridge and Elsa Lemmila provide sparks nearly every game.
How will that transfer to the postseason where each game could be the team’s last?
“I think we’re in a good spot,” said McGuff. “Today we could’ve won, we didn’t, and give Maryland credit, they made some big plays down the stretch especially. But we’ve played well the last three games against really good competition and so I think we’re in a pretty good spot.”
Ohio State has wins against ranked Michigan State and an overtime victory over a surging Iowa Hawkeyes team that has three wins in their last four games, plus a narrow, two-point, defeat to the UCLA Bruins. It bodes well for the Buckeyes and shows that despite an up and down season, not all hope is lost for the Scarlet and Gray.
“We’ve got to take that same competitive character into next weekend in Indy” said McGuff. “Just be a little bit better in controlling the things we can control and we’ll be a bit better.”
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
Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images
Despite losing in College Park, the overtime defeat gives the team hope heading into a Friday Big Ten Tournament debut
Last season, Ohio State women’s basketball was on a tear. The Buckeyes won 15 games in a row in conference play, securing the sole ownership of the Big Ten regular season title, setting up what the team hoped was a longer postseason than their trip to the Elite Eight in 2023. Then the wheels fell off.
Head coach Kevin McGuff’s side went to Iowa to face guard Caitlin Clark in her last regular season game in Iowa City. In a contest full of emotion and national attention, Clark secured the NCAA points record from Pete Maravich and the Buckeyes couldn’t overcome the Black and Yellow. A small blip before the postseason, but it proved to be just the first impact that turned into a fast-growing crack in the foundation — then the Maryland Terrapins punched a hole in it.
In the Big Ten Tournament, Ohio State entered as the No. 1 seed, and came in with a track record of not losing in the quarterfinals when entering with a double-bye under McGuff.
However, the Terrapins beat the Buckeyes by 21 points and Ohio State hopped right back on the plane home from Minneapolis, Minnesota to try and regroup for the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes beat the Maine Black Bears, needing to rebound from a tough start, and then couldn’t hold off the Duke Blue Devils in the Second Round of March Madness.
That’s all in the past, but Ohio State stands on the precipice of another March, beginning Friday at the Big Ten Tournament. However, this time things are different.
For one, the team integrated three new starters in the offseason. It’s taken time to get players used to each other, and key leaders from past campaigns are now either in the pros, on the Ohio State bench or both.
Then there’s the second difference - the Buckeyes haven’t been on a tear at all this season. Ohio State won 17 games to start the season, but that was a weak non-conference schedule masquerading as a tear.
Ohio State has been pushed and pulled to this point of the season through strong individual performances from forward Cotie McMahon and freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge. Any tough win was either the by-product of a player reaching new levels of competing or opponents wrestling away leads. There have not been many team battles to overcome adversity, until the final day of the regular season.
The Buckeyes lost in overtime to the Maryland Terrapins 93-90 on a last second overtime three-point winner by Terps guard Sarah Te-Biasu, but that defeat puts Ohio State in a better spot for the postseason, much better than last season.
Against Maryland, Ohio State lacked lineup consistency with McMahon and Cambridge each sitting on the bench for periods of time they would normally be playing due to foul trouble. In the second half, down nine points, it looked like the Buckeyes were on their way to a humbling defeat but a weird thing happened and Ohio State fought and clawed back into the game.
“I was proud of the team, the way we competed,” said McGuff. “I thought our competitive character and effort was where it needed to be.”
McGuff isn’t one who believes a loss is a good way to learn lessons, sharing in the past that winning also lets teams learn lessons, so the positives of how the team competed were followed up with a “but.”
“But we made too many mistakes. A lot of turnovers that led to easy Maryland baskets and a couple opportunities for key defensive stops that we didn’t get.”
Last season, the Buckeyes looked like a team that knew they could win, but the confidence got the best of them at the end of the season and in the postseason. This edition of the Scarlet and Gray doesn’t have that same belief. When the team did, specifically against the Penn State Nittany Lions, it ended in defeat. Penn State entered that game without a Big Ten win on the season and ended the regular season on Sunday with only that one win in conference play.
Not having that kind of confidence is a good thing.
Ohio State can’t afford to expect a win to come to them. There needs to be that fight that the Buckeyes showed without their top scorers on the floor in an environment that goes beyond a normal college basketball game in the Big Ten. Not only were the coaches yelling, but the fans and players joined in. The officiating crew was struggling to keep up with the intensity on and off the court.
Despite the loss, it has the Buckeyes feeling better about heading into the postseason.
“It shows our togetherness, our toughness,” said graduate senior guard Madison Greene. It gives us confidence even if we didn’t have a great outcome today, coming into the Big Ten Tournament and March, I think if we have that same mindset and energy I think we’ll be good.”
Greene was part of the group leading that comeback charge, playing 33 minutes, which is her most in a game coming off the bench. In large part due to Cambridge only playing 18 minutes before fouling out. Greene added 12 points, her highest total in Big Ten play this season in a subdued role.
The Buckeyes also leaned on the play of guard Taylor Thierry, who played 43 minutes and led all Ohio State scorers with 21 points. A performance unlike Thierry this year after the senior took a more backseat role in the offense.
While the cast of characters is different, the show is the same for Ohio State, and they are playing more like the 22-23 edition of this program. That team had to battle to come back in multiple games. That team didn’t lack fight. For any tough, lopsided, defeat there were two-to-three double-digit comebacks.
This season’s edition of the Buckeyes has the talent and it’s proven that throughout the season. Outside of McMahon and Cambridge, guard Chance Gray has games hitting deep shots with frequency, forward Ajae Petty is on a three-game double-double streak and bench players like Kennedy Cambridge and Elsa Lemmila provide sparks nearly every game.
How will that transfer to the postseason where each game could be the team’s last?
“I think we’re in a good spot,” said McGuff. “Today we could’ve won, we didn’t, and give Maryland credit, they made some big plays down the stretch especially. But we’ve played well the last three games against really good competition and so I think we’re in a pretty good spot.”
Ohio State has wins against ranked Michigan State and an overtime victory over a surging Iowa Hawkeyes team that has three wins in their last four games, plus a narrow, two-point, defeat to the UCLA Bruins. It bodes well for the Buckeyes and shows that despite an up and down season, not all hope is lost for the Scarlet and Gray.
“We’ve got to take that same competitive character into next weekend in Indy” said McGuff. “Just be a little bit better in controlling the things we can control and we’ll be a bit better.”
Continue reading...
LGHL McGuff on McMahon controversy, closing the book on overblown public response
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McGuff on McMahon controversy, closing the book on overblown public response
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 G Fiume/Getty Images
Ohio State moves on from the middle fingers momentarily taking over the Cotie McMahon search engine results.
Put the name “Cotie McMahon” in a search engine over the past three years and a number of highlight plays, shows of pure emotion and accolades popped up. On Monday, those shifted to a different kind of result with opportunistic news outlets looking for clicks “reporting” on the middle fingers given by the junior forward to the Maryland Terrapins’ student section in Sunday’s 93-90 Buckeyes loss.
Look past the obvious intentions of outlets like Fox News writing an article about a successful black woman in a moment of frustration and the moment fit into a game that had tension on both sides, a technical foul and an environment in College Park that sounded like a powder keg about to explode.
On Thursday, one day before Ohio State women’s basketball heads to Indianapolis to play in the annual Big Ten Tournament, head coach Kevin McGuff addressed the situation.
Here is coach McGuff’s full statement:
“Good to have everybody here. It’s good to see you guys. And just real quickly, we obviously took a tough loss against Marilyn on Sunday. And we had an unfortunate incident with Cotie [McMahon] where she kind of lost control of her emotions there for a moment and did something out of character for her. And we are addressing that internally with her.”
While opposing fans and people with their own heinous motivation for going after McMahon are likely on the side of punishing the junior, McGuff followed that up with confirmation that the team, the Big Ten and the NCAA are not taking the situation any further, which is the right thing to do.
Look further into the game, the moment, and the response and it is not something that would normally garner the same attention if it were in the pro ranks, or even if it happened elsewhere in college sports. Ohio State has history, with former football player Marcus Hall showing the middle finger to Michigan fans in 2013, resulting in a reprimand from the conference but nothing additional.
Emotion is part of the sport, and McMahon shows more than most. Over the years, McGuff is known for his fair share of jokes at McMahon’s personality that is beloved by fans and grates opposing fans, but McGuff continued on Thursday talking about how that emotion isn’t a detriment — it is a benefit.
“We talk to her, we talk to all of our players,” said McGuff. “When she’s got really positive emotion going in the right direction, it really drags the whole team with her. Her being mindful of that, and that energy is really powerful and we want to use it in a positive way and it’s extremely impactful for us.”
Now it’s time to go back to the reality that much worse things have happened in a basketball game than a player sending their thoughts back to a college basketball crowd, and now spend time watching great basketball.
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
Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images
Ohio State moves on from the middle fingers momentarily taking over the Cotie McMahon search engine results.
Put the name “Cotie McMahon” in a search engine over the past three years and a number of highlight plays, shows of pure emotion and accolades popped up. On Monday, those shifted to a different kind of result with opportunistic news outlets looking for clicks “reporting” on the middle fingers given by the junior forward to the Maryland Terrapins’ student section in Sunday’s 93-90 Buckeyes loss.
Look past the obvious intentions of outlets like Fox News writing an article about a successful black woman in a moment of frustration and the moment fit into a game that had tension on both sides, a technical foul and an environment in College Park that sounded like a powder keg about to explode.
On Thursday, one day before Ohio State women’s basketball heads to Indianapolis to play in the annual Big Ten Tournament, head coach Kevin McGuff addressed the situation.
Here is coach McGuff’s full statement:
“Good to have everybody here. It’s good to see you guys. And just real quickly, we obviously took a tough loss against Marilyn on Sunday. And we had an unfortunate incident with Cotie [McMahon] where she kind of lost control of her emotions there for a moment and did something out of character for her. And we are addressing that internally with her.”
While opposing fans and people with their own heinous motivation for going after McMahon are likely on the side of punishing the junior, McGuff followed that up with confirmation that the team, the Big Ten and the NCAA are not taking the situation any further, which is the right thing to do.
Look further into the game, the moment, and the response and it is not something that would normally garner the same attention if it were in the pro ranks, or even if it happened elsewhere in college sports. Ohio State has history, with former football player Marcus Hall showing the middle finger to Michigan fans in 2013, resulting in a reprimand from the conference but nothing additional.
Emotion is part of the sport, and McMahon shows more than most. Over the years, McGuff is known for his fair share of jokes at McMahon’s personality that is beloved by fans and grates opposing fans, but McGuff continued on Thursday talking about how that emotion isn’t a detriment — it is a benefit.
“We talk to her, we talk to all of our players,” said McGuff. “When she’s got really positive emotion going in the right direction, it really drags the whole team with her. Her being mindful of that, and that energy is really powerful and we want to use it in a positive way and it’s extremely impactful for us.”
Now it’s time to go back to the reality that much worse things have happened in a basketball game than a player sending their thoughts back to a college basketball crowd, and now spend time watching great basketball.
Continue reading...
LGHL Ohio State’s men’s and women’s hockey compete in conference tournament action this weekend
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Ohio State’s men’s and women’s hockey compete in conference tournament action this weekend
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The women’s team will look to win the WCHA Final Faceoff, while the men’s team opens up Big Ten Tournament play.
While the eyes of the hockey world were on the Columbus Blue Jackets over the weekend because of the NHL’s Stadium Series game, both Ohio State hockey teams had notable weekend series.
The Buckeye men’s team closed out their regular season schedule by splitting a series with the Michigan Wolverines. The women’s team had little trouble with St. Thomas in the first round of the WCHA Tournament, securing a spot in the WCHA Final Faceoff this weekend.
Now both squads will look to add to their resumés to bolster their seeding for their upcoming NCAA Tournament runs.
We’ll start off with the Ohio State women’s hockey team, since they will be wrapping up their conference tournament, while the men’s team will just be starting the Big Ten Tournament this weekend.
Nadine Muzerall’s squad swept St. Thomas in Columbus over the weekend, beating the Tommies 5-1 on Friday, followed by a 4-1 win on Saturday. With the victories, the Buckeyes will now face Minnesota on Friday afternoon in a WCHA Final Faceoff semifinal.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25899073/usa_today_24596120.jpg "Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch")
Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Joy Dunne opened up the scoring for Ohio State 1:31 into the game on Friday night. Dunne also scored the first goal of Saturday’s game at the 1:36 mark of the first period. With goals in both games, Dunne has now put a puck in the back of the net in each of the last six games. The Buckeye star also added three assists over the two games, increasing her team-high point total to 52 points on the season. The 23 goals Dunne has scored is just two shy of tying Jocelyn Amos for the team lead.
The star of Friday night’s game was undoubtedly Mira Jungåker, who scored two goals and dished out two assists in the 5-1 win over St. Thomas. The freshman defenseman from Sweden also had an assist in Saturday’s victory. After a slow start to the season, it is obvious that Jungåker is gaining comfort on the ice and could be a big factor for the Buckeyes the rest of the season.
Winning both games for Ohio State over the weekend was goaltender Amanda Thiele, who continues to add to her impressive Buckeye career between the pipes. Thiele is now 18-5-2 on the season, giving her 69 career wins as an Ohio State goaltender. Although Hailey MacLeod has seen a decent amount of time at goalie for the Buckeyes, expect to see Thiele the rest of the way because of her tremendous amount of experience in high pressure postseason games.
Now Ohio State will take on a Minnesota team who they defeated in three of their four meetings during the regular season. The Buckeyes won the first game between the teams 4-3 on October 11th in Columbus, followed by a shootout win the next night.
The Golden Gophers and Buckeyes would meet in Minneapolis a few months later. Minnesota’s 3-1 win on Jan. 31 would be their only one over Ohio State so far this season, but the Buckeyes did earn some revenge the next day with a 7-3 triumph. The most notable performance in those games was in the final matchup when Sloane Matthews recorded a hat trick to lead Ohio State to victory.
The Golden Gophers enter Friday’s semifinal with a 27-10-1 record after winning two of three games over Minnesota State over the weekend. Minnesota won the first game 6-1 but Minnesota State was able to avoid the sweep by winning the second game 5-4 in double overtime. The Golden Gophers righted the ship in Sunday’s game, winning 6-2. Emma Kreisz had two goals and three assists to lead the way in game one, while Abbey Murphy netted two goals in game three.
There’s no question that Abbey Murphy is the star for Minnesota after she has recorded 29 goals and 30 assists so far this season. The only other Golden Gopher skater with more than 40 points is Ella Huber, who has 44 points on the season. Peyton Hemp and Natalie Mlynkova each have been credited with 31 points.
In goal, Hannah Clark has done the bulk of the work this season, starting 32 games, posting a 23-8-1 record with a 2.25 goals against average and .907 save percentage.
The winner of Friday’s second semifinal will go on to face the winner of the game between Wisconsin and Minnesota-Duluth that will be played first on Friday. The final will take place on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. ET. All games from the WCHA Final Faceoff can be seen on B1G+.
When it comes to Ohio State’s men’s hockey team, the Buckeyes already had clinched a top-three spot in the Big Ten standings heading into last weekend’s action, ensuring they would play at home in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Even though the pressure was off when it came to having an edge in the first round, Ohio State still wanted to best their rival when the Michigan Wolverines came to Columbus for two games last week.
Ohio State opened up the two-game series with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Wolverines before Michigan was able to win Friday night’s game 4-3. William Smith scored the game-winner 1:22 in overtime on Thursday to earn the win for the Buckeyes. Friday night’s game saw Michigan jump out to a 4-1 lead.
While Ohio State showed fight with two goals in the third period, they weren’t able to complete the comeback and send the game into overtime.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25889678/usa_today_24981656.jpg "Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch")
Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
With how the last weekend of the Big Ten regular season shook out, the Buckeyes will host Wisconsin in a best-of-three series this weekend at Nationwide Arena. Ohio State swept all four meetings with the Badgers this season, winning 2-1 in overtime and 2-1 in regulation in Madison back in October, followed by 4-1 and 4-2 wins in Columbus last month. Wisconsin enters this weekend’s games with a 12-19-3 record on the season.
Max Montes was a force in the games in Madison, scoring both goals in the overtime win in the first meeting between the schools. Riley Thompson would score 21 seconds into the second game, while Montes added some insurance with a goal a minute into the third to win the next night. Thompson would go on to score two goals in the first game in Columbus, and Montes would tie the final meeting of the regular season in the second period before Damien Carfagna and Davis Burnside netted goals to complete the regular season sweep of the Badgers.
Ohio State can’t take Wisconsin lightly because anything can happen on the ice. While Ohio State has Gunnerwolfe Fontaine, Riley Thompson, and Davis Burnside as 30-point scores this season, the Badgers counter with Quinn Finley, Ryland Mosley, and Gavin Morrissey. At goaltender, Tommy Scarfone can be tough to get pucks past, posting a 2.64 goals against average and three shutouts this season.
All of this weekend’s games between Ohio State and Wisconsin are scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. ET, and can be seen on B1G+. The winner will move on to the next round of the Big Ten Tournament, with their opponent depending on how the rest of the action around the conference over the weekend shakes out.
Continue reading...
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The women’s team will look to win the WCHA Final Faceoff, while the men’s team opens up Big Ten Tournament play.
While the eyes of the hockey world were on the Columbus Blue Jackets over the weekend because of the NHL’s Stadium Series game, both Ohio State hockey teams had notable weekend series.
The Buckeye men’s team closed out their regular season schedule by splitting a series with the Michigan Wolverines. The women’s team had little trouble with St. Thomas in the first round of the WCHA Tournament, securing a spot in the WCHA Final Faceoff this weekend.
Now both squads will look to add to their resumés to bolster their seeding for their upcoming NCAA Tournament runs.
Women’s hockey
We’ll start off with the Ohio State women’s hockey team, since they will be wrapping up their conference tournament, while the men’s team will just be starting the Big Ten Tournament this weekend.
Nadine Muzerall’s squad swept St. Thomas in Columbus over the weekend, beating the Tommies 5-1 on Friday, followed by a 4-1 win on Saturday. With the victories, the Buckeyes will now face Minnesota on Friday afternoon in a WCHA Final Faceoff semifinal.
Joy Dunne opened up the scoring for Ohio State 1:31 into the game on Friday night. Dunne also scored the first goal of Saturday’s game at the 1:36 mark of the first period. With goals in both games, Dunne has now put a puck in the back of the net in each of the last six games. The Buckeye star also added three assists over the two games, increasing her team-high point total to 52 points on the season. The 23 goals Dunne has scored is just two shy of tying Jocelyn Amos for the team lead.
The star of Friday night’s game was undoubtedly Mira Jungåker, who scored two goals and dished out two assists in the 5-1 win over St. Thomas. The freshman defenseman from Sweden also had an assist in Saturday’s victory. After a slow start to the season, it is obvious that Jungåker is gaining comfort on the ice and could be a big factor for the Buckeyes the rest of the season.
Winning both games for Ohio State over the weekend was goaltender Amanda Thiele, who continues to add to her impressive Buckeye career between the pipes. Thiele is now 18-5-2 on the season, giving her 69 career wins as an Ohio State goaltender. Although Hailey MacLeod has seen a decent amount of time at goalie for the Buckeyes, expect to see Thiele the rest of the way because of her tremendous amount of experience in high pressure postseason games.
Now Ohio State will take on a Minnesota team who they defeated in three of their four meetings during the regular season. The Buckeyes won the first game between the teams 4-3 on October 11th in Columbus, followed by a shootout win the next night.
The Golden Gophers and Buckeyes would meet in Minneapolis a few months later. Minnesota’s 3-1 win on Jan. 31 would be their only one over Ohio State so far this season, but the Buckeyes did earn some revenge the next day with a 7-3 triumph. The most notable performance in those games was in the final matchup when Sloane Matthews recorded a hat trick to lead Ohio State to victory.
The Golden Gophers enter Friday’s semifinal with a 27-10-1 record after winning two of three games over Minnesota State over the weekend. Minnesota won the first game 6-1 but Minnesota State was able to avoid the sweep by winning the second game 5-4 in double overtime. The Golden Gophers righted the ship in Sunday’s game, winning 6-2. Emma Kreisz had two goals and three assists to lead the way in game one, while Abbey Murphy netted two goals in game three.
There’s no question that Abbey Murphy is the star for Minnesota after she has recorded 29 goals and 30 assists so far this season. The only other Golden Gopher skater with more than 40 points is Ella Huber, who has 44 points on the season. Peyton Hemp and Natalie Mlynkova each have been credited with 31 points.
In goal, Hannah Clark has done the bulk of the work this season, starting 32 games, posting a 23-8-1 record with a 2.25 goals against average and .907 save percentage.
The winner of Friday’s second semifinal will go on to face the winner of the game between Wisconsin and Minnesota-Duluth that will be played first on Friday. The final will take place on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. ET. All games from the WCHA Final Faceoff can be seen on B1G+.
Men’s hockey
When it comes to Ohio State’s men’s hockey team, the Buckeyes already had clinched a top-three spot in the Big Ten standings heading into last weekend’s action, ensuring they would play at home in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Even though the pressure was off when it came to having an edge in the first round, Ohio State still wanted to best their rival when the Michigan Wolverines came to Columbus for two games last week.
Ohio State opened up the two-game series with a 2-1 overtime victory over the Wolverines before Michigan was able to win Friday night’s game 4-3. William Smith scored the game-winner 1:22 in overtime on Thursday to earn the win for the Buckeyes. Friday night’s game saw Michigan jump out to a 4-1 lead.
While Ohio State showed fight with two goals in the third period, they weren’t able to complete the comeback and send the game into overtime.
With how the last weekend of the Big Ten regular season shook out, the Buckeyes will host Wisconsin in a best-of-three series this weekend at Nationwide Arena. Ohio State swept all four meetings with the Badgers this season, winning 2-1 in overtime and 2-1 in regulation in Madison back in October, followed by 4-1 and 4-2 wins in Columbus last month. Wisconsin enters this weekend’s games with a 12-19-3 record on the season.
Max Montes was a force in the games in Madison, scoring both goals in the overtime win in the first meeting between the schools. Riley Thompson would score 21 seconds into the second game, while Montes added some insurance with a goal a minute into the third to win the next night. Thompson would go on to score two goals in the first game in Columbus, and Montes would tie the final meeting of the regular season in the second period before Damien Carfagna and Davis Burnside netted goals to complete the regular season sweep of the Badgers.
Ohio State can’t take Wisconsin lightly because anything can happen on the ice. While Ohio State has Gunnerwolfe Fontaine, Riley Thompson, and Davis Burnside as 30-point scores this season, the Badgers counter with Quinn Finley, Ryland Mosley, and Gavin Morrissey. At goaltender, Tommy Scarfone can be tough to get pucks past, posting a 2.64 goals against average and three shutouts this season.
All of this weekend’s games between Ohio State and Wisconsin are scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m. ET, and can be seen on B1G+. The winner will move on to the next round of the Big Ten Tournament, with their opponent depending on how the rest of the action around the conference over the weekend shakes out.
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LGHL Uncut: Jake Diebler discusses ridiculous double overtime win over Nebraska
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Uncut: Jake Diebler discusses ridiculous double overtime win over Nebraska
Connor Lemons 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 blew a lead, then came back in dramatic fashion.
Throughout the season, Land-Grant will be bringing you uncut audio primarily from Ohio State press conferences but also from individual interview sessions.
Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
In the early morning hours of Wednesday, March 5, Jake Diebler spoke to the collective Ohio State and Nebraska media contingent about the game, how proud he was of his team, and what it was like on the sideline on every final possession.
Micah Parrish and Bruce Thornton spoke briefly as well, giving big grins when the NCAA Tournament came up. Parrish said this was the wildest game he’s played in since transferring to Ohio State.
Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg also spoke, saying Ohio State has a “great roster” and that the coaching staff does a great job running designed actions for all five starters.
Connect with Connor:
Twitter: @lemons_connor
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Connor Lemons 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 blew a lead, then came back in dramatic fashion.
Throughout the season, Land-Grant will be bringing you uncut audio primarily from Ohio State press conferences but also from individual interview sessions.
Listen to the episode and subscribe:
Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
In the early morning hours of Wednesday, March 5, Jake Diebler spoke to the collective Ohio State and Nebraska media contingent about the game, how proud he was of his team, and what it was like on the sideline on every final possession.
Micah Parrish and Bruce Thornton spoke briefly as well, giving big grins when the NCAA Tournament came up. Parrish said this was the wildest game he’s played in since transferring to Ohio State.
Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg also spoke, saying Ohio State has a “great roster” and that the coaching staff does a great job running designed actions for all five starters.
Connect with Connor:
Twitter: @lemons_connor
Theme music provided by www.bensound.com
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LGHL Ohio State offers 2029 California running back, makes the cut for 2026 RB
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Ohio State offers 2029 California running back, makes the cut for 2026 RB
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Ohio State’s latest offer goes out on Wednesday to an eighth grade California native.
Ohio State’s coaching staff has many great aspects when it comes to recruiting, but the ability to build relationships many times what sticks out the most. Sure, the program pillars of winning and development also stand atop of the list, but the coaches the Buckeyes have do a fantastic job of making sure their mantra of the brotherhood rings true on the recruiting trail.
Longer lasting relationships in recruiting tend to help more compared to knowing a player for less time, and the Buckeyes got a big time jump start on Wednesday when they offered their latest running back prospect by way of the 2029 recruiting class.
Taking to social media to share his latest recruiting update, California native Makai Buchanan made it clear how excited he was to have Ohio State now officially in his recruitment. Position coach Carlos Locklyn made quite the impression when the two spoke about his newest offer.
Just an eighth grader, there’s a long time before any decision is coming, but offering this early on in the process shows not only the caliber of player he is and will be, but also a chance for the Ohio State staff to really build a strong bond with Makai over the next few years of his recruitment.
At any rate, the 6-foot, 165 pound middle school phenom can now add Ohio State to the mix joining the likes of Arizona, Arizona State, Ole Miss, Syracuse, and Texas A&M as the schools who have gotten an early start to recruiting what looks to be one of the top class of 2029 players when the rankings come available.
Sticking to the running back theme, Wednesday also brought some good news to Ohio State’s efforts recruiting the position in the current 2026 cycle. A class for the Buckeyes that wants two at the position, Locklyn has offers out to many if not all of the top backs in the country, and is in good position for multiple.
Narrowing down his top schools list to just six and keeping the Buckeyes right in the mix, Alabama native Ezavier Crowell also has Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, and Texas still in his consideration. An impressive cut down from his nearly 40 offers, Crowell is on his way to making a final push towards a commitment, and the Buckeyes are thrilled to still be in contention for another top player.
The No. 27 player nationally and the second ranked running back per the 247Sports Composite, Crowell won’t be an easy one to steal out of prime SEC country. What the Buckeyes can tote however is the fact that Locklyn is an Alabama native himself, which doesn’t hurt, and in addition Ohio State did just sign Anthony “Turbo” Rogers to their 2025 class, who is also an Alabama product.
It won’t be a surprise to see the Buckeyes lean in on their ties to Alabama both from their position coach and their recent recruiting success. Needing two guys to reload the room in 2026, Crowell’s name is one worth continued monitoring.
An unranked in-state linebacker, the 6-foot-3, 198 pound athlete out of Bishop Waterson has yet to land an offer, but does have the attention of several programs. Kentucky, Northwestern, Notre Dame, and now Ohio State have all extended invites for him to be on their campuses.
One to keep an eye on moving forward, the Buckeyes love recruiting in-state linebackers and he very well could be a more serious target in the near future.
Continue reading...
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Ohio State’s latest offer goes out on Wednesday to an eighth grade California native.
Ohio State’s coaching staff has many great aspects when it comes to recruiting, but the ability to build relationships many times what sticks out the most. Sure, the program pillars of winning and development also stand atop of the list, but the coaches the Buckeyes have do a fantastic job of making sure their mantra of the brotherhood rings true on the recruiting trail.
Longer lasting relationships in recruiting tend to help more compared to knowing a player for less time, and the Buckeyes got a big time jump start on Wednesday when they offered their latest running back prospect by way of the 2029 recruiting class.
Taking to social media to share his latest recruiting update, California native Makai Buchanan made it clear how excited he was to have Ohio State now officially in his recruitment. Position coach Carlos Locklyn made quite the impression when the two spoke about his newest offer.
Just an eighth grader, there’s a long time before any decision is coming, but offering this early on in the process shows not only the caliber of player he is and will be, but also a chance for the Ohio State staff to really build a strong bond with Makai over the next few years of his recruitment.
At any rate, the 6-foot, 165 pound middle school phenom can now add Ohio State to the mix joining the likes of Arizona, Arizona State, Ole Miss, Syracuse, and Texas A&M as the schools who have gotten an early start to recruiting what looks to be one of the top class of 2029 players when the rankings come available.
Ohio State remains in the mix for 2026 running back target
Sticking to the running back theme, Wednesday also brought some good news to Ohio State’s efforts recruiting the position in the current 2026 cycle. A class for the Buckeyes that wants two at the position, Locklyn has offers out to many if not all of the top backs in the country, and is in good position for multiple.
Narrowing down his top schools list to just six and keeping the Buckeyes right in the mix, Alabama native Ezavier Crowell also has Alabama, Auburn, Florida State, Georgia, and Texas still in his consideration. An impressive cut down from his nearly 40 offers, Crowell is on his way to making a final push towards a commitment, and the Buckeyes are thrilled to still be in contention for another top player.
The No. 27 player nationally and the second ranked running back per the 247Sports Composite, Crowell won’t be an easy one to steal out of prime SEC country. What the Buckeyes can tote however is the fact that Locklyn is an Alabama native himself, which doesn’t hurt, and in addition Ohio State did just sign Anthony “Turbo” Rogers to their 2025 class, who is also an Alabama product.
It won’t be a surprise to see the Buckeyes lean in on their ties to Alabama both from their position coach and their recent recruiting success. Needing two guys to reload the room in 2026, Crowell’s name is one worth continued monitoring.
Quick Hits
- Continuing to add names to their visit list for spring ball in the coming weeks, Ohio State will play host to a local prospect when 2027 linebacker Jackson Reynolds makes his way to campus for an unofficial visit on April 5.
An unranked in-state linebacker, the 6-foot-3, 198 pound athlete out of Bishop Waterson has yet to land an offer, but does have the attention of several programs. Kentucky, Northwestern, Notre Dame, and now Ohio State have all extended invites for him to be on their campuses.
One to keep an eye on moving forward, the Buckeyes love recruiting in-state linebackers and he very well could be a more serious target in the near future.
Continue reading...
LGHL I-80 Football Show: Disaster for the Mavericks, previewing the Big Ten WBB Tournament
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I-80 Football Show: Disaster for the Mavericks, previewing the Big Ten WBB Tournament
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images
The guys are back talking basketball on a football podcast!
Welcome to a new episode of Land-Grant Podcast Network’s I-80 Football Show. On this show, we travel down I-80 to talk all things Big Ten Football. After every week of action, we will catch you up on all the conference’s games and look ahead at the matchups, storylines, and players you should be paying attention to for the next week. My name is Jordan Williams, and I am joined by my co-host Dante Morgan.
In this week’s episode, there is little news in the Big Ten or college football as a whole, so we turn our attention to basketball.
In the NBA, Kyrie recently suffered an ACL injury, ending his season and adding on to Anthony Davis’ injury. After trading away Luka Doncic because of his injury concerns, the Mavericks’ rent is due immediately and their three-year championship window is effectively closed before it could open. Meanwhile, the Lakers keep winning despite Luka playing poorly. This trade may have opened their championship window sooner than expected.
On to college basketball, the Big Ten’s Women’s Basketball Tournament has started, and the guys marvel at the schedule the players are held to. Five games in five days means at least a couple of teams are playing three-straight days in hopes of capturing the Big Ten crown. The condensed schedule is one of many reasons the real March Madness starts during conference tournaments, and doesn’t wait until the NCAA Tournament begins a few weeks later.
While realignment may not have been kind to many of the West Coast football schools, it brought two powerhouses into the women’s basketball as USC and UCLA are two of the best teams in the country. It should be a USC-UCLA Big Ten title game, but the real question is can one of them bring home the title this season?
They’re joined by Maryland and Ohio State as the other top contenders in women’s college basketball. There will be stiff challenges from South Carolina, Notre Dame, and Texas, but can the Big Ten win a national championship for the first time since Purdue won in 1999?
In their weekly pitstop, we talk about video games. Jordan played Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time, and while may have been broken on release, it’s worth it now. Dante is mad at 2K Sports as they keep ruining his favorite video games. First, they ruined NBA 2K, and now they’re adding virtual currency (VC) to WWE 2K25 and creating an island similar to the city in the basketball game.
If you like the show, please share it with friends and family and leave a five-star review. To keep up with the show, you can subscribe to the Land-Grant Podcast Network Feed, where new episodes drop every Thursday.
You can also find Jordan’s article ‘B1G Thoughts’ on Land-Grant Holy Land.
Follow the show on YouTube: @GetDefensiveSportsNetwork
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @GetDefensiveSportsNetwork
Connect with us on Twitter: Jordan: @JordanW330 and Dante: @DanteM10216
Continue reading...
JordanW330 via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images
The guys are back talking basketball on a football podcast!
Welcome to a new episode of Land-Grant Podcast Network’s I-80 Football Show. On this show, we travel down I-80 to talk all things Big Ten Football. After every week of action, we will catch you up on all the conference’s games and look ahead at the matchups, storylines, and players you should be paying attention to for the next week. My name is Jordan Williams, and I am joined by my co-host Dante Morgan.
In this week’s episode, there is little news in the Big Ten or college football as a whole, so we turn our attention to basketball.
In the NBA, Kyrie recently suffered an ACL injury, ending his season and adding on to Anthony Davis’ injury. After trading away Luka Doncic because of his injury concerns, the Mavericks’ rent is due immediately and their three-year championship window is effectively closed before it could open. Meanwhile, the Lakers keep winning despite Luka playing poorly. This trade may have opened their championship window sooner than expected.
On to college basketball, the Big Ten’s Women’s Basketball Tournament has started, and the guys marvel at the schedule the players are held to. Five games in five days means at least a couple of teams are playing three-straight days in hopes of capturing the Big Ten crown. The condensed schedule is one of many reasons the real March Madness starts during conference tournaments, and doesn’t wait until the NCAA Tournament begins a few weeks later.
While realignment may not have been kind to many of the West Coast football schools, it brought two powerhouses into the women’s basketball as USC and UCLA are two of the best teams in the country. It should be a USC-UCLA Big Ten title game, but the real question is can one of them bring home the title this season?
They’re joined by Maryland and Ohio State as the other top contenders in women’s college basketball. There will be stiff challenges from South Carolina, Notre Dame, and Texas, but can the Big Ten win a national championship for the first time since Purdue won in 1999?
In their weekly pitstop, we talk about video games. Jordan played Cyberpunk 2077 for the first time, and while may have been broken on release, it’s worth it now. Dante is mad at 2K Sports as they keep ruining his favorite video games. First, they ruined NBA 2K, and now they’re adding virtual currency (VC) to WWE 2K25 and creating an island similar to the city in the basketball game.
If you like the show, please share it with friends and family and leave a five-star review. To keep up with the show, you can subscribe to the Land-Grant Podcast Network Feed, where new episodes drop every Thursday.
You can also find Jordan’s article ‘B1G Thoughts’ on Land-Grant Holy Land.
Follow the show on YouTube: @GetDefensiveSportsNetwork
Follow the podcast on Instagram: @GetDefensiveSportsNetwork
Connect with us on Twitter: Jordan: @JordanW330 and Dante: @DanteM10216
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2029 CA RB Makai Buchanan (Verbal Offer)
- By pnuts34
- Football Recruiting
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Rivals
Twitter
Class: 2029
Position: RB
School: Victorville(CA) Victor Valley
Height: 6ft
Weight: 165lbs
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Class: 2029
Position: RB
School: Victorville(CA) Victor Valley
Height: 6ft
Weight: 165lbs
Login to view embedded media Login to view embedded media
