ThomasCostello
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Ohio State women’s basketball earns home celebration years in the making
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
After the Buckeyes last title came thousands of feet off the ground, the Scarlet and Gray celebrate on the Earth in front of thousands of fans and family
On Feb. 27, 2022, Ohio State women’s basketball was on a flight home from East Lansing, Michigan. That afternoon, the Buckeyes did what they had to do to see if they could win the Big Ten regular season title. In midair, as the Michigan Wolverines lost its spot atop the standings, the flight attendant on the chartered trip home broke the good news: Ohio State was the champions.
Celebrations didn’t include any of the usual college basketball tradition. Also, in a moment that echoed the pandemic guidelines from the past season, the team did it alone, isolated from family and Ohio State fans.
That didn’t damper team celebrations when the plane landed in Columbus. Outside of the celebratory hats and shirts synonymous with any team winning a title, head coach Kevin McGuff gifted the team, and the world, with “The McGriddy.”
That season, Ohio State shared its title with the Iowa Hawkeyes. A joint-title situation that almost repeated this season when Iowa and Ohio State both sat near the top of the standings, with a game on March 3 between the sides to decide a winner.
As the current season progressed, that March 3 date went from a potential title match to a fallback game for the Buckeyes if it didn’t get the job done against the Michigan Wolverines on Wednesday. Its victory over bitter rivals is a good thing too, because when it comes to sharing trophies, Ohio State players are firm in their feelings.
“Sharing is not winning. I don’t like sharing,” said forward Cotie McMahon. “Neither does this team, actually. So, that’s not a win.”
Once the buzzer sounded, and the Buckeyes avenged its lone Big Ten defeat of the season against Michigan, the party started.
With streamer fireworks popping and confetti falling, now at the appropriate time, most of the crowd of almost 11,000 people stuck around to join the Scarlet and Gray in its celebrations.
That meant athlete’s families could watch and join in the celebration. Forward Rebeka Mikulášiková’s parents were in from Slovakia to see their daughter finish her college career. Former Buckeye guard Taylor Mikesell joined her former teammates on the court. Also, guard Jacy Sheldon’s sister Emmy Sheldon stood alongside her sister’s teammates who’ve adopted Emmy herself into the program.
“This is really special,” said Sheldon. “I’m just so proud of this team.”
Between live videos on social media, taking photos with the conference trophy and talking to fans and family stretched around the court, each member of the Buckeyes took their turn climbing up the ladder to cut down a piece of the net.
Part of the group including soon-to-be-retired Athletic Director Gene Smith, who got to end his stewardship of the basketball program end on a high note, following tough decisions and moments on the men’s side over the past month.
When Sheldon and teammate Celeste Taylor got their turns up the ladder, it was business. Cut down a piece and move on to what’s next. McMahon admits she didn’t know how to do it, but like on the court, she persisted and succeeded. McGuff has experience in these things, winning seven regular season conference titles across three schools as a head coach. So, his response was a little different.
“Yeah, Coach McGuff is funny. He’s hilarious, and the patience that he has is crazy,” said McMahon. “So just seeing him kind of ease up and just have fun, it was really cool.”
Patience is a great word for not only McGuff, but the 23/24 edition of the Buckeyes.
Look at the start of the season, when USC Trojans freshman guard JuJu Watkins put up 32 points on the veteran Scarlet and Gray group in her first ever NCAA game. Wins followed, but not against top-25 contenders. The next month, when the UCLA Bruins came to Ohio State’s campus, the same thing happened again, with the Buckeyes falling.
Questions surrounded the team. Were they going to live up to the expectations set from last season when it made it all the way to the Elite Eight? Thoughts continued down that path until Dec. 30 when Ohio State lost in Ann Arbor to a Michigan side who’s firmly in the middle of the Big Ten standings. The Scarlet and Gray kept its focus.
“I’m just really proud of this group,” said McGuff. “We’ve got great kids, and they’ve worked extremely hard. And, as I told them in the locker room, if you looked at where we were when we played our first Big Ten game to where we are today, we’ve made incredible progress. We’ve done that because we’ve got a group that has focused on the right things every day in practice, focused on the next game ahead and that’s it.”
That hard work and focus on the right things culminated in a 15-game winning streak that’s still active heading into Sunday’s regular season finale. So, when the party began at the Schottenstein Center, there were no questions about the title’s merit and no upset fans in the stands, unless they were wearing maize and blue.
After Friday’s rest day, its back to basketball. No longer focusing on past victories but ahead to what comes next: A trip to Iowa City. For Ohio State, it hasn’t gotten close to the expectations it has for itself.
“I want to accomplish a lot,” said McMahon. “Hopefully, getting the Big Ten champs, the tournament champs and then the goal is always to chase the ring, the natty [national championship].”
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 Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
After the Buckeyes last title came thousands of feet off the ground, the Scarlet and Gray celebrate on the Earth in front of thousands of fans and family
On Feb. 27, 2022, Ohio State women’s basketball was on a flight home from East Lansing, Michigan. That afternoon, the Buckeyes did what they had to do to see if they could win the Big Ten regular season title. In midair, as the Michigan Wolverines lost its spot atop the standings, the flight attendant on the chartered trip home broke the good news: Ohio State was the champions.
Celebrations didn’t include any of the usual college basketball tradition. Also, in a moment that echoed the pandemic guidelines from the past season, the team did it alone, isolated from family and Ohio State fans.
That didn’t damper team celebrations when the plane landed in Columbus. Outside of the celebratory hats and shirts synonymous with any team winning a title, head coach Kevin McGuff gifted the team, and the world, with “The McGriddy.”
That season, Ohio State shared its title with the Iowa Hawkeyes. A joint-title situation that almost repeated this season when Iowa and Ohio State both sat near the top of the standings, with a game on March 3 between the sides to decide a winner.
As the current season progressed, that March 3 date went from a potential title match to a fallback game for the Buckeyes if it didn’t get the job done against the Michigan Wolverines on Wednesday. Its victory over bitter rivals is a good thing too, because when it comes to sharing trophies, Ohio State players are firm in their feelings.
“Sharing is not winning. I don’t like sharing,” said forward Cotie McMahon. “Neither does this team, actually. So, that’s not a win.”
Once the buzzer sounded, and the Buckeyes avenged its lone Big Ten defeat of the season against Michigan, the party started.
With streamer fireworks popping and confetti falling, now at the appropriate time, most of the crowd of almost 11,000 people stuck around to join the Scarlet and Gray in its celebrations.
That meant athlete’s families could watch and join in the celebration. Forward Rebeka Mikulášiková’s parents were in from Slovakia to see their daughter finish her college career. Former Buckeye guard Taylor Mikesell joined her former teammates on the court. Also, guard Jacy Sheldon’s sister Emmy Sheldon stood alongside her sister’s teammates who’ve adopted Emmy herself into the program.
“This is really special,” said Sheldon. “I’m just so proud of this team.”
Between live videos on social media, taking photos with the conference trophy and talking to fans and family stretched around the court, each member of the Buckeyes took their turn climbing up the ladder to cut down a piece of the net.
Part of the group including soon-to-be-retired Athletic Director Gene Smith, who got to end his stewardship of the basketball program end on a high note, following tough decisions and moments on the men’s side over the past month.
When Sheldon and teammate Celeste Taylor got their turns up the ladder, it was business. Cut down a piece and move on to what’s next. McMahon admits she didn’t know how to do it, but like on the court, she persisted and succeeded. McGuff has experience in these things, winning seven regular season conference titles across three schools as a head coach. So, his response was a little different.
“Yeah, Coach McGuff is funny. He’s hilarious, and the patience that he has is crazy,” said McMahon. “So just seeing him kind of ease up and just have fun, it was really cool.”
Patience is a great word for not only McGuff, but the 23/24 edition of the Buckeyes.
Look at the start of the season, when USC Trojans freshman guard JuJu Watkins put up 32 points on the veteran Scarlet and Gray group in her first ever NCAA game. Wins followed, but not against top-25 contenders. The next month, when the UCLA Bruins came to Ohio State’s campus, the same thing happened again, with the Buckeyes falling.
Questions surrounded the team. Were they going to live up to the expectations set from last season when it made it all the way to the Elite Eight? Thoughts continued down that path until Dec. 30 when Ohio State lost in Ann Arbor to a Michigan side who’s firmly in the middle of the Big Ten standings. The Scarlet and Gray kept its focus.
“I’m just really proud of this group,” said McGuff. “We’ve got great kids, and they’ve worked extremely hard. And, as I told them in the locker room, if you looked at where we were when we played our first Big Ten game to where we are today, we’ve made incredible progress. We’ve done that because we’ve got a group that has focused on the right things every day in practice, focused on the next game ahead and that’s it.”
That hard work and focus on the right things culminated in a 15-game winning streak that’s still active heading into Sunday’s regular season finale. So, when the party began at the Schottenstein Center, there were no questions about the title’s merit and no upset fans in the stands, unless they were wearing maize and blue.
After Friday’s rest day, its back to basketball. No longer focusing on past victories but ahead to what comes next: A trip to Iowa City. For Ohio State, it hasn’t gotten close to the expectations it has for itself.
“I want to accomplish a lot,” said McMahon. “Hopefully, getting the Big Ten champs, the tournament champs and then the goal is always to chase the ring, the natty [national championship].”
Continue reading...