On the biggest stage of the regular season, Cotie McMahon shined her brightest.
McMahon hasn't been quite like her freshman self for most of her sophomore campaign so far. But when her team needed her the most, she made the most of the spotlight against No. 2 Iowa, leading Ohio State to a big-time upset win over the Hawkeyes on Sunday, Iowa's first Big Ten loss of the season.
In front of a record-setting, sold-out crowd of 18,660 fans in Value City Arena, McMahon put the Buckeyes on her back early and often. After scoring 11 points in the game's first seven minutes, the forward finished with a career-high 33 points in addition to 12 rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks. She made 12 of 23 shots in 41 minutes, leading a group of five starters who all scored in double figures by the end of overtime.
33 points
— Big Ten Women's Basketball (@B1Gwbball) January 21, 2024
12 rebounds
Cotie McMahon put on a clinic for @OhioStateWBB in their upset win over Iowa. pic.twitter.com/CtPWu7qRM3
With Ohio State trailing 70-58 with just under nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter after Iowa went on a 10-0 run in a quick three-minute span, McMahon and Jacy Sheldon (who had 24 points, seven rebounds and three assists while making 9-of-16 shots in a game-high 45 minutes) took control for the Buckeyes. The pair combined for 15 points in just over three minutes to cut the deficit to 75-73 with 5:24 to play before the Buckeyes eventually tied the game, forced overtime and outscored Iowa 17-9 in the extra period to take home the win.
McMahon scored 21 of the Buckeyes' final 42 points (13 in the fourth quarter and eight in overtime) to lead OSU to its biggest win of the season.
"She had a heckuva game today," Sheldon said of her teammate's performance. "She does so much for us and is so special and important to this team but she does a great job of keeping her composure like she did today, which we needed her to. ... I told her it was eventually going to come and she was eventually going to go off and she did, so we're glad she did because she helped us win today."
McMahon used her 6-foot frame and athleticism to find mismatches throughout the game, especially inside. The forward was able to essentially do whatever she wanted inside the 3-point line, whether it was in the post or taking her opponent off the dribble. McMahon used her strength and physicality to get past defenders, leading to plenty of easy baskets. In fact, all 12 of her made shots came from within a few feet of the basket.
Cotie McMahon's shooting chart in win over Iowa (via ESPN)
"I think, in particular, Cotie was excellent around the rim, finishing, getting fouled," head coach Kevin McGuff said. "Going back prior to Christmas, she was kind of in a little bit of a funk there, she wasn't playing really well. She has practiced extremely hard and extremely well every single day since we came out of the Christmas break. So I'm really happy to see her apply that to the game today. She was just so effective around the rim and you could see her physicality and aggression really coming through and it was really fun to watch."
After her first year in Columbus, which included being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season, McMahon has not found consistency on the stat sheet this season. The majority of her numbers had decreased this season along with her efficiency and minutes per game before Sunday, and she also hadn't scored more than 14 points in a game since Dec. 10. She had scored seven or fewer points in four of her last eight games before Sunday.
| Season | MPG | FGA | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | 29.1 | 10.9 | 51% | 26.3% | 67.7% | 5.5 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 15.1 |
| 2023-24 | 27.8 | 10.6 | 45.5% | 22.2% | 61.3% | 5.5 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 13.9 |
McMahon knew that for the Buckeyes to take down Iowa, she had to be on top of her game and put her recent struggles behind her. That alone gave McMahon some extra motivation and the sophomore channeled that to play the best game of her young Ohio State career.
"Honestly, as we know, I've been struggling the past couple of games. But I kinda knew that this game, my team needed me no matter what," McMahon said after the game. "We refused to lose this game so I had to do everything that I could, just as far as rebounding, being a good teammate and making sure I got good looks and good passes and stuff like that. So that's really all I was focused on. The atmosphere was great, obviously, having good energy around me helped me kinda keep that going but, you know, kind of just playing for my team, that's really what motivated me."
Even in a career-best performance, McMahon didn't receive some foul calls that she thought (and all of Ohio State believed) should have been called throughout Sunday's game. She fought through it, didn't allow those missed calls to affect her or get her down, and instead continued to be aggressive, forcing the referees to blow the whistle.
"She's such a unique player because she, unlike most people in women's basketball, can play through contact. And so sometimes, she's not gonna get all the calls that other people will get because it just doesn't look the same because she's playing through the contact," McGuff said. "She did a great job today of maintaining her composure and continuing to play the game the right way and the right way for us."
“Especially when you have this kind of crowd, it's just like everyone is rooting for you. You make the bucket and get the foul, that's LeBron stuff right there. It's pretty cool.”– Cotie McMahon
When the referees did blow the whistle, McMahon took advantage of it. Of her 12 made shots on Sunday, three of them were and-ones, and she went 9-of-14 from the free-throw line on the day.
“I feel like an and-one is just like the best thing in the world,” McMahon said. “Especially when you have this kind of crowd, it's just like everyone is rooting for you. You make the bucket and get the foul, that's LeBron stuff right there. It's pretty cool.”
No matter what Iowa did or how it adjusted its defense throughout the game, specifically against McMahon, it didn't matter.
"We just did not have an answer for Cotie McMahon inside," Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder said following the game. "I mean, she draws 10 fouls, goes to the free-throw line 14 times, so that was just a tough, you know – she's really, really hard to guard. She's a great basketball player.
"I thought she was outstanding last year, too. I mean, she's just so physical, quick, strong, she's just a great player. She's really, really hard to defend and when she gets going like that, you know, the 3-point plays are pretty impressive. That she can convert and draw the foul."
On a day when Ohio State needed her to pull off the upset in its most anticipated game of the season to date, McGuff knew he could count on McMahon to make plays.
"She was really determined," McGuff said. "She's been determined in practice this week and she was really locked in and focused and, you know, hopefully, this is a great reminder for her that when her focus and energy is as it was today, how special she can be and how much she can impact this team."
With her performance against Iowa paired with how she played in Ohio State's win over Maryland earlier in the week, McMahon was named AP National Player of the Week, Big Ten Player of the Week and the Naismith Women's College Player of the Week – becoming the first Buckeye to win the latter award since Kelsey Mitchell in 2017 – after averaging 23.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 blocks in the two games this past week.
