Ohio State women’s basketball has had to wait two weeks for its chance to bounce back from its loss to Maryland in its first game of the Big Ten Tournament.
The Buckeyes played their worst game of the year by far against the Terrapins in Minneapolis, suffering an 82-61 loss in the quarterfinals to the tournament’s No. 8 seed. Despite entering that game with a focus on taking things one day at a time and responding to losing its previous game against Iowa in its regular-season finale, the Big Ten regular-season champions got ran off the court by Maryland, allowing the Terrapins to outrebound them 55-31.
Kevin McGuff has pushed his team hard in practice ever since to ensure the Buckeyes will be ready to play when they return to the court for their first game of the NCAA Tournament on Friday against No. 15 seed Maine (Noon, ESPN) at the Schottenstein Center. He’s confident his team will be ready to play this time based on the way they’re responded to that challenge.
Maine
Black Bears
“We were so dreadful vs. Maryland that I just wanted to remind them that this is kind of who we are and what makes us good, and just the intensity, the focus, the passion that we play with. And they responded,” McGuff said Thursday. “They did. They know the things that make us good. But just wanted to make sure that when we have a chance to play another game, which will be (Friday), that we're focused and we're ready to go.”
Now that they’ve reached the portion of the year where the season is on the line every game, the lopsided loss to Maryland served as a wakeup call to the Buckeyes that they can’t afford to sleepwalk into any contest. They’ll take that mentality into Friday’s contest even though they’re a 27-point betting favorite for the matchup with the Black Bears.
“We had a great week of practice. Probably one of the most competitive weeks we've had this year,” fifth-year senior guard Jacy Sheldon said Thursday. “So I think just coming back from that, learning from that game, and then just focusing on Maine and how they play and their style of play and preparing for them, I think it was a good past week-and-a-half for us, and we're finally excited to play.”
Although Maine isn’t expected to pose much of a threat for Ohio State, the Black Bears are nevertheless a conference champion (America East) who went 24-9 this season. They’ve won 17 of their last 19 games and are led by a pair of highly productive players in senior guard Anna Simon (18.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 3.3 apg) and junior forward Adrianna Smith (16.6 ppg, 10.9 rpg, 4.7 apg). So McGuff has stressed to his players that they can’t take their first opponent lightly.
“They're a well-coached team that is used to winning. And they're going to come in, and they're going to lay it all out on the line,” McGuff said. “We need to be ready to go from the start. They'll be fired up and excited, as they should be. If we're not ready to go from the start, it could be problematic.”
| Maine | Ohio State | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | No. | Player | Ht | 2023-24 Stats | Pos | No. | Player | Ht | 2023-24 Stats |
| G | 1 | OLIVIA ROCKWOOD | 5-7 | 6 PPG, 1.7 RPG, 1 APG | G | 4 | JACY SHELDON | 5-10 | 18 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 3.7 APG |
| G | 3 | ANNE SIMON | 5-9 | 18.8 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 3.3 APG | G | 12 | CELESTE TAYLOR | 5-11 | 10.2 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 3.4 APG |
| G | 12 | SARAH TALON | 5-10 | 6.6 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 0.9 APG | G | 2 | TAYLOR THIERRY | 6-1 | 11.4 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 1.6 APG |
| G | 13 | CAROLINE BORNEMANN | 5-10 | 7.5 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 1.8 APG | F | 32 | COTIE MCMAHON | 6-0 | 14.1 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.2 APG |
| F | 33 | ADRIANNA SMITH | 6-0 | 16.6 PPG, 10.9 RPG, 4.8 APG | F | 23 | REBEKA MIKULASIKOVA | 6-4 | 9.5 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 2.5 APG |
That said, Ohio State is hopeful Friday will be just the beginning of a deep tournament run. The Buckeyes made it to the Elite Eight last year before losing to Virginia Tech, and they believe they’re capable of going further this year.
“I feel like we had a great team last year. Did a lot of great things. But I feel like this year, we have really all we need to kind of go as far as we allow ourselves,” sophomore forward Cotie McMahon said Sunday. “So I'm really excited to see what this team is capable of doing, and how far we're capable of going.”
As a No. 2 seed in the Big Dance with a 25-5 record, the Buckeyes have good reason to be confident. All of the players who played key roles in last year’s NCAA Tournament run are back except for Taylor Mikesell, Ohio State’s leading scorer a year ago, but the Buckeyes replaced her with Celeste Taylor, a Naismith Defensive Player of the Year finalist who is also one of four double-digit scorers (10.2 ppg) for the Buckeyes along with Sheldon (18 ppg), McMahon (14.1 ppg) and Taylor Thierry (11.4 ppg).
Sheldon was coming off of a foot injury that sidelined her for most of last season in last year’s NCAA Tournament, but she’s re-emerged as one of the sport’s top players this year, earning second-team AP All-American honors this week. The Buckeyes aren’t dealing with any major injuries entering the NCAA Tournament and have a well-rounded starting lineup with an experienced bench, giving them the belief that they compete with any opponent.
“Last year we had a lot of injuries, and Jacy was able to come back, but wasn't her full self,” fifth-year senior guard Rikki Harris said Thursday. “I think this year going into it is excitement that we have a healthy team right now, and can't wait to see what we can do and how far we can go.”
“I feel like we had a great team last year. Did a lot of great things. But I feel like this year, we have really all we need to kind of go as far as we allow ourselves.”– Cotie McMahon on Ohio State’s potential for a deep NCAA Tournament run
The road to a Final Four run won’t be easy for the Buckeyes, however. Assuming they get past Maine on Friday, they’ll face a quality opponent in the second round in either No. 7 seed Duke or No. 10 seed Richmond. Should they advance to the Sweet 16, they could face a rematch from last year’s Sweet 16 against No. 3 seed UConn, which enters the tournament on a nine-game win streak. If they make it back to the Elite Eight, they could face a rematch of their season opener against No. 1 seed USC, which beat the Buckeyes 83-74 to begin the year and boasts the nation’s second-leading scorer in JuJu Watkins.
Because of their success in the tournament last year, the Buckeyes also know they won’t sneak up on anyone this year.
“We've got a little bit of a target on our back,” McGuff said. “And I also think like, our press was really effective last year, and I think people will probably put a little more time into preparing for that than maybe they otherwise would have.”
The Buckeyes are trying not to focus on anyone’s expectations for them entering the tournament, though. If they focus on taking care of business one game at a time, they see no limit to how far they can go.
“I think just overall, I think we do a good job here of just trying to keep what's in our circle in our circle,” Taylor said Sunday. “Everybody had expectations for us this whole season. And I think when you focus on those expectations from the outside, it can hinder you. And so I think the coaching staff has done a great job of making sure that we stay consistent with ourselves and just focusing on what we expect and what we know we can be. So I think keeping that mentality and that mindset on throughout the tournament is going to be good.”
