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Five Storylines: No. 2 Ohio State women’s basketball vs. Michigan
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The Buckeyes look for revenge, continued team passing and locking up a conference crown
In terms of the rivalry between Ohio State women’s basketball and the Michigan Wolverines, last season was a banner year for the Scarlet and Gray. Head coach Kevin McGuff’s side beat the Maize and Blue three times, including a Big Ten tournament game. This season though, playing the Wolverines hasn’t been a blessing. It’s been a blemish.
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Buckeyes are 15-1 in conference play with the lone defeat coming up north in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Now, with abundantly more on the line than simply a rivalry win, the pressure is high for both teams Wednesday night in Columbus.
Here are five storylines to get you ready.
Sunday afternoon, Ohio State locked up a share of the Big Ten regular season championship, defeating the Maryland Terrapins 79-66. The victory gave the Buckeyes at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title.
A win on Wednesday wins the whole thing.
With the Iowa Hawkeyes and Indiana Hoosiers each having three defeats in-conference, all the Buckeyes have to do is win one of its remaining two regular season games.
On paper, Wednesday is the best opportunity. The Wolverines hold an 8-8 Big Ten record, with the Buckeyes being its lone big win of the season. Should Ohio State slip up against Michigan, it's a trip to Iowa City on Sunday to face the No. 6 Iowa Hawkeyes.
The Buckeyes aren’t the only team needing a win in Columbus. After Michigan’s strong start to the conference slate, the team’s been hit-or-miss. After a 10-3 start, the Wolverines are now sitting on the bubble in most NCAA tournament bracketology predictions.
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Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Michigan needs a strong run at the end of the season to make the NCAA Tournament
A win against the No. 2 team in the country will push the Wolverines right off that bubble, then a game against the Purdue Boilermakers, who sit in 11th place in the Big Ten. That game is at home too for Michigan, giving them an advantage where they already have one. The Wolverines haven’t lost to any of the teams in the bottom three of the standings.
Add postseason implications to an already heated rivalry and there’s no lack of motivation for either team.
It seems pretty straightforward, but if the Buckeyes have more offensive possessions, they have a better chance of winning. On Dec. 30, when the Scarlet and Gray fell 69-60 to Michigan, that’s exactly the opposite of what happened.
The reason it happened was because of turnovers and poor rebounding.
Ohio State’s 19 turnovers was the most the side’s had in Big Ten play this season. The Buckeyes looked disjointed, throwing the ball away or not anticipating teammate movement. The -4 turnover margin on the day was the Scarlet and Gray’s worst of the season.
Rebounding-wise, the 27 boards were the team’s lowest rebounding total of the season, only tied with the very next game against the Northwestern Wildcats, which Ohio State won. While being outrebounded is not new for the Buckeyes, it has improved since the defeat up north.
All-in-all, the game against Michigan was a no-good, very bad, day for the Buckeyes.
It’s an outlier in an otherwise strong season for Ohio State in both categories. If the Ohio State that averages +7.96 turnover margin and only a -.9 rebounding margin shows up on Wednesday, it’ll be more indicative of the side the Buckeyes have shown throughout the 2024 calendar year.
This may come as a surprise, but Ohio State also didn’t shoot well in Ann Arbor.
Sarcasm aside, the Buckeyes’ three-point shooting was nothing to laugh at in the first half of the season. Against the Wolverines, the Scarlet and Gray went 5-for-24 from beyond the arc, good for the second-worst performance from deep in conference play.
Look at the past month and it shows an Ohio State team that’s grown offensively. In seven February games, the Buckeyes are shooting 40.1% from the floor, and making an average of nine three-point shots per game. Beyond an impressive jump in the total number of made threes, it’s the diversity in which Ohio State is converting.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25308306/2031352922.jpg "Maryland v Ohio State")
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
Ohio State guard Celeste Taylor has seven three-point shots in the last two games, shooting 50% from deep.
In five of those seven February games, at least five Buckeyes hit shots from beyond the arc. Against the Wisconsin Badgers, seven different Ohio State players made a three-point shot. For a team with question marks surrounding its deep shooting, with the graduation of guard Taylor Mikesell, the sharpshooter-by-committee plan is helping the Buckeyes move towards an NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed.
A consistent theme throughout conference play for Ohio State has been foul issues. In Ann Arbor, it was a stark contrast between the two teams.
The Buckeyes had a -10 margin of fouls compared to the Wolverines, 22-12. They weren’t all defensive fouls either, with charging fouls hurting Ohio State early, especially forward Cotie McMahon. They took the forward out of her rhythm and practically shut her down for the rest of the game.
Following that defeat, where McMahon had 5 points, 1 assist, and 3 turnovers in 17 minutes on the court, the forward’s been a different player. McGuff and McMahon credit increased focus in practice turning into results on the court. Those results speak for themselves.
In the 14 games since Michigan beat Ohio State, McMahon has averaged 15.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Of those 14 games, five ended with McMahon securing a double-double, compared to four total as a freshman. Plus, the 33-point, 12-rebound, game against the then No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes on Jan. 21 put McMahon back into the national conversation.
McMahon is back in the mode where she’s nearly impossible to beat, and the sophomore seems to loves a challenge. The last time Michigan challenged Ohio State in the 2023 Big Ten Tournament, McMahon scored 23 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and created 4 assists.
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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 look for revenge, continued team passing and locking up a conference crown
In terms of the rivalry between Ohio State women’s basketball and the Michigan Wolverines, last season was a banner year for the Scarlet and Gray. Head coach Kevin McGuff’s side beat the Maize and Blue three times, including a Big Ten tournament game. This season though, playing the Wolverines hasn’t been a blessing. It’s been a blemish.
With two games remaining in the regular season, the Buckeyes are 15-1 in conference play with the lone defeat coming up north in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Now, with abundantly more on the line than simply a rivalry win, the pressure is high for both teams Wednesday night in Columbus.
Here are five storylines to get you ready.
Titleholders
Sunday afternoon, Ohio State locked up a share of the Big Ten regular season championship, defeating the Maryland Terrapins 79-66. The victory gave the Buckeyes at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title.
A win on Wednesday wins the whole thing.
With the Iowa Hawkeyes and Indiana Hoosiers each having three defeats in-conference, all the Buckeyes have to do is win one of its remaining two regular season games.
On paper, Wednesday is the best opportunity. The Wolverines hold an 8-8 Big Ten record, with the Buckeyes being its lone big win of the season. Should Ohio State slip up against Michigan, it's a trip to Iowa City on Sunday to face the No. 6 Iowa Hawkeyes.
Michigan on the Bubble
The Buckeyes aren’t the only team needing a win in Columbus. After Michigan’s strong start to the conference slate, the team’s been hit-or-miss. After a 10-3 start, the Wolverines are now sitting on the bubble in most NCAA tournament bracketology predictions.
Michigan needs a strong run at the end of the season to make the NCAA Tournament
A win against the No. 2 team in the country will push the Wolverines right off that bubble, then a game against the Purdue Boilermakers, who sit in 11th place in the Big Ten. That game is at home too for Michigan, giving them an advantage where they already have one. The Wolverines haven’t lost to any of the teams in the bottom three of the standings.
Add postseason implications to an already heated rivalry and there’s no lack of motivation for either team.
Keeping the Ball
It seems pretty straightforward, but if the Buckeyes have more offensive possessions, they have a better chance of winning. On Dec. 30, when the Scarlet and Gray fell 69-60 to Michigan, that’s exactly the opposite of what happened.
The reason it happened was because of turnovers and poor rebounding.
Ohio State’s 19 turnovers was the most the side’s had in Big Ten play this season. The Buckeyes looked disjointed, throwing the ball away or not anticipating teammate movement. The -4 turnover margin on the day was the Scarlet and Gray’s worst of the season.
Rebounding-wise, the 27 boards were the team’s lowest rebounding total of the season, only tied with the very next game against the Northwestern Wildcats, which Ohio State won. While being outrebounded is not new for the Buckeyes, it has improved since the defeat up north.
All-in-all, the game against Michigan was a no-good, very bad, day for the Buckeyes.
It’s an outlier in an otherwise strong season for Ohio State in both categories. If the Ohio State that averages +7.96 turnover margin and only a -.9 rebounding margin shows up on Wednesday, it’ll be more indicative of the side the Buckeyes have shown throughout the 2024 calendar year.
Deep Shooting
This may come as a surprise, but Ohio State also didn’t shoot well in Ann Arbor.
Sarcasm aside, the Buckeyes’ three-point shooting was nothing to laugh at in the first half of the season. Against the Wolverines, the Scarlet and Gray went 5-for-24 from beyond the arc, good for the second-worst performance from deep in conference play.
Look at the past month and it shows an Ohio State team that’s grown offensively. In seven February games, the Buckeyes are shooting 40.1% from the floor, and making an average of nine three-point shots per game. Beyond an impressive jump in the total number of made threes, it’s the diversity in which Ohio State is converting.
Ohio State guard Celeste Taylor has seven three-point shots in the last two games, shooting 50% from deep.
In five of those seven February games, at least five Buckeyes hit shots from beyond the arc. Against the Wisconsin Badgers, seven different Ohio State players made a three-point shot. For a team with question marks surrounding its deep shooting, with the graduation of guard Taylor Mikesell, the sharpshooter-by-committee plan is helping the Buckeyes move towards an NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed.
Cotie McMahon Redemption Arc
A consistent theme throughout conference play for Ohio State has been foul issues. In Ann Arbor, it was a stark contrast between the two teams.
The Buckeyes had a -10 margin of fouls compared to the Wolverines, 22-12. They weren’t all defensive fouls either, with charging fouls hurting Ohio State early, especially forward Cotie McMahon. They took the forward out of her rhythm and practically shut her down for the rest of the game.
Following that defeat, where McMahon had 5 points, 1 assist, and 3 turnovers in 17 minutes on the court, the forward’s been a different player. McGuff and McMahon credit increased focus in practice turning into results on the court. Those results speak for themselves.
In the 14 games since Michigan beat Ohio State, McMahon has averaged 15.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Of those 14 games, five ended with McMahon securing a double-double, compared to four total as a freshman. Plus, the 33-point, 12-rebound, game against the then No. 2 Iowa Hawkeyes on Jan. 21 put McMahon back into the national conversation.
McMahon is back in the mode where she’s nearly impossible to beat, and the sophomore seems to loves a challenge. The last time Michigan challenged Ohio State in the 2023 Big Ten Tournament, McMahon scored 23 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and created 4 assists.
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