Ohio State remains undefeated.
Despite an excruciating win over Belmont Sunday, the Buckeyes remained at No. 12 in the Associated Press women’s basketball rankings Monday. The other top 11 teams all stayed the same as well, holding their same ranking as week two.
Kevin McGuff likely wasn’t satisfied with the win over an unranked team, one which came down to the final minute. Ohio State trailed for a good portion of the fourth quarter, really only coming back to life with five minutes remaining.
Freshman Jaloni Cambridge — who put up video-game-like numbers in her debut with 31 points on 85.7 percent shooting, six rebounds, six assists and five steals — struggled to both score and control the ball. After scoring her first bucket in the first, she missed her next eight shots but came up with a clutch and-1 for the final made shot of the game to give Ohio State a four-point victory in Nashville. Cambridge also had six turnovers.
On a lighter note, however, it became evident that the Buckeyes could rely on their veterans to take control in late-game situations — they combined for 25 of the team’s last 31 points. Particularly initiated by senior Taylor Thierry and juniors Cotie McMahon and Chance Gray, Ohio State was able to stay in the game and completely flip the scoreboard to make the Bruins play their style of ball.
Going into another on-the-road nonconference game, the Buckeyes must come out even more aggressive in their full-court press to turn defense into instant offense — for a team which averaged over 10 steals per game and were one of the top defensive teams in the country, four is not going to cut it in the future. Ohio State should consider themselves happy that they were able to win despite this and the fact they shot 32-38-50 splits.
McGuff’s squad has a chance to come back with another victory as they travel to Athens to take on Ohio University Wednesday at 7 p.m., streaming on ESPN Plus.
