Five things to watch in Ohio State’s 2025 March Madness debut
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The Buckeyes start their 29th NCAA Tournament on Friday. Here’s what you need to watch as OSU faces Montana State.
Ohio State women’s basketball has not faced the Montana State Bobcats in program history. It is not often that the Big Ten and Big Sky face off against each other, but on Friday at the Schottenstein Center, the two sides play for a chance to move on into the NCAA Tournament’s round of 32.
It’s a matchup that features two similar defenses, with slight variations, a pair of dynamic point guards who excelled in their first seasons with new teams, and one Ohio State player who is likely to receive extended minutes off the bench.
Here’s what to watch when the Buckeyes and Bobcats take to the court Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET.
Bruin Bounce Back
The last time Ohio State stepped onto a basketball court in a competitive game, they did not last too long when it came to the competitive piece. In the
Big Ten Tournament semifinal, the UCLA Bruins won the jump, scored the first points and the Buckeyes tied the game at 2-2. That was the last time the game was even close.
Athletes do well when they have poor short-term memory and Ohio State is not spending much time looking back, but bringing lessons from the conference tournament into the NCAA Tournament.
“I would say Big Ten Tournament, first game our energy was great,” said Ohio State forward Cotie McMahon. “Second game, dead, even during warmups. So I just feel like as long as we find that energy and that fight from everyone and not just one, two people, I mean, we can really do anything.”
What kind of energy will Ohio State have Friday against Montana State? According to the seeding, it should be a more comfortable win for the Buckeyes, but look back at this season with a close win against mid-major Belmont and a loss to 18th-place Penn State and there is no such thing as a guaranteed win.
Plus, a potential matchup against the
Tennessee Volunteers in round two has the potential to distract, especially when there will be a lot of orange expected in the crowd this weekend.
“As I have told the team all week, Montana State is used to winning,” said head coach Kevin McGuff. “They’ve won 30 games for a reason. They’re well-coached. They play extremely hard, and they’re going to show up here and compete to win. So we better have the same mindset if we want to be successful.”
Leading the Bobcats is senior point guard Esmeralda Morales, who will go up against Ohio State freshman Jaloni Cambridge in an explosive matchup.
Cambridge vs. Morales
Both Cambridge and Morales are first-year players on their respective teams. For Cambridge, it’s because she just came out of high school and is finishing off her first season in college basketball. For Morales, the guard featured for Portland State in her first three years of NCAA basketball. Morales started at least 29 games each season since entering college and although she went the mid-major route, like Cambridge, she excelled, averaging at least 12 points per game in all four seasons.
Now the two go at each other Friday afternoon. Both have similar characteristics on the court. Each of them is a three-level scorer, plays well off screens, and can use speed to attack the basket. Cambridge is the faster of the two, but both still set the tone for their respective offenses.
“Composure, steadiness. She was kind of our missing piece,” head coach Tricia Binford said. “We had a really fantastic freshman class also coming in, but we needed somebody who could put the ball in their hands, be our leader on the floor. She just brings out the best of everyone.”
Both guards also bring strong defensive ability. Cambridge is eighth in the Big Ten with two steals per game and has the 11th-best defensive rating at 82.9. Take the eye off the ball or give Cambridge any room and the guard will take advantage by poking the ball away or anticipating passes.
For Morales, she came to Montana State to develop herself defensively and better position herself for a spot in the
WNBA. Morales did just that with a career-low defensive rating of 83, on her way to a Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year award.
“She has tremendous instincts. She played three years in a 2-3-zone, 2-2-1 and really there’s a lot of similar concepts but when you have great instincts and you’re a willing kid, you can learn defense very quickly and she’s got a tremendous IQ,” said Binford.
“She also has some veterans on the defensive end with our returners who helped her pick those things up quickly and she probably had it down within the first couple weeks of practice.”
Press vs. Press
Montana State brings the most steals (14.6) and fifth most forced turnovers (23.67) per game in the nation, with Ohio State behind them in Division I in 10th and 11th place respectively.
When either team makes a basket, they may jump right into their full-court pressing set, but there are differences.
“Yeah, they have some similarities in terms of just disrupting the other team,” McGuff said. “Theirs is usually more a little bit of run and jump, and ours is a little more of a zone press, I guess, is what I would say.”
Once it gets into the half court, Montana State goes into a zone where they are not necessarily trying to block the paint but stop passes. Ohio State has an athleticism advantage over Montana State, so the Buckeyes will need to leverage speed and quick passing to break through the disciplined Bobcats defense.
Part of that defense is freshman Taylee Chirrick, who won the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year award despite starting only two of her 33 appearances for the Bobcats. Chirrick is first in the Big Sky in steals per game (3.4) and defensive rating (67.2). Her defensive rating is also second in the entire country.
Chirrick is able to do that with her speed and conditioning. The guard ran in high school and is not going to get tired out from the Ohio State defense too easily. Chirrick set state track records in the 400-meter, 800-meter, and 300-meter hurdles. However, it’s more than running that goes into taking the ball away from an opponent.
“She’s relentless so for us, she just gets her hands on a lot of basketballs defensively,” said Binford. “She’s never going to give up. She’s going to keep attack-minded.”
When Chirrick gets on the court, which she does often averaging 21.3 minutes per game, guards Chance Gray, Taylor Thierry, and bench guard Kennedy Cambridge will have to keep their eyes on her and on the ball at the same time. Offensively, Chirrick has not blown the college game away at seven points per game, but she averaged over 30 points per game as a senior in high school, including a 51-point game. If attention is given to Morales, Chirrick could surprise the Buckeyes.
Eyes on the Bench
An area to watch for Ohio State is their bench. Entering Friday, freshman guard Ava Watson and freshman Center Elsa Lemmilä are game-time decisions for McGuff. Watson has experience in the press in high school and is Ohio State’s shooting guard for the future, although her offensive production off the bench has been sporadic.
Watson has not played since Feb. 13 against the
Minnesota Golden Gophers where she went 4-of-4 from beyond the arc before badly spraining her ankle at the start of the fourth quarter. The guard out of Georgia practiced normally on Friday and looked like she might be available for selection.
“Ava is in a good place,” said McGuff. “She should be good to go.”
Lemmilä is a different story. The center did not have a singular moment where she injured herself, but it appears that over time the center developed a foot injury. Lemmilä practiced on Friday but winced in pain following a play.
The Finnish center has 58 blocks for Ohio State with her 6-foot-6 frame, the most in a season for the Buckeyes since Tori McCoy in the 2016-17 season.
With Lemmilä more likely out, look for forward Eboni Walker to play the backup role behind starting forward Ajae Petty. Walker has the NCAA Tournament experience after the graduate senior started every game for Ohio State during the 2023 run to the Elite Eight.
Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images
Walker does not bring the same size as Petty or Lemmilä but is the quickest of the three players who play the No. 5 role for the Buckeyes. She also brings a spark of energy off the bench, which made her a Buckeye fan favorite.
If Ohio State wins, the extra day off for Lemmilä could mean minutes against either the Tennessee Volunteers or the USF Bulls.
Watch the Stars
The Buckeyes want to make a run in the tournament and are not only happy to be in March Madness. Ohio State has the pieces to do that but they need to have their biggest names playing to their potential.
That means Jaloni Cambridge, McMahon and guard/forward Taylor Thierry.
McGuff’s trio brings deep shooting, defensive presence, and explosive moments on offense. When the Buckeyes get turnovers, it will be likely one of the three getting the chance to turn them into points on the fast break.
This season, it has not always been effective like in previous seasons. Ohio State gives up some size to Montana State with three probable starters standing at least 6-foot-2, so the rebound margin may not go Ohio State’s way. That puts additional; pressure on fast break opportunities.
“I think at our best this year it’s been really good, but we just haven’t found a rhythm where we’ve consistently been close enough to 40 minutes of that to feel like we’ve played our best,” said McGuff. “I think that’s the key is we’re just trying to be the best version of ourselves.”
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