The best thing for Ohio State women’s basketball Wednesday night is that it has another game.
After the 100-68 defeat to the No. 1 UConn Huskies on Sunday, a palette cleanser is exactly what the Buckeyes need and it comes in the form of the Kent State Golden Flashes, the 3-2 MAC side from just over two hours away in Northeast Ohio.
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Ohio State has the opportunity to not forget, but turn the Sunday lessons into in-game improvement, albeit against a team lower down the Associated Press rankings than the Huskies.
There are storylines to watch for the Buckeyes as they return to the Schottenstein Center.
Pressure Defense
Over the last few years, Ohio State and the full-court press have become synonymous. For years, Buckeye guards caused problems for opposing teams and forced turnovers in great numbers.
That is not the case this season. Although it’s a small sample size, the non-conference is full of performances that pad the statistics. It features games against mid-major sides who usually end up in the loss column by 30 points.
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Last season, the Buckeyes had two non-conference games where they had less than 10 steals in a game — a near defeat to the Belmont Bruins and a rout over the Stanford Cardinal.
So far this season, the Buckeyes had a 13-steal game against Coppin State, but followed that with only eight steals against the Bellarmine Knights. On Sunday, it was six against UConn.
Ohio State lacks the same intensity in the press that it had in previous years, and there are reasons for that. For one, Taylor Thierry is no longer with the team. Thierry’s speed and athleticism made it tough to even chuck the ball down the court because there was a cornerback-esque interception waiting for it from the now WNBA professional.
Guards Kennedy and Jaloni Cambridge are the press right now. There is not a viable third option who is forcing teams into difficult passes. Kennedy Cambridge accounts for 41% of the team’s steals this season with 11. Jaloni Cambridge is behind her with six and then there is no other Buckeye who averages at least a steal per game.
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In the last three seasons, at least six players averaged at least one steal per game, and the year before that there were four.
The havoc-inducing press is now two people. When offenses get the ball past the Cambridge sisters, which is not the easiest thing to do, there is nothing slowing the team down from getting into its plays set on offense.
A game against a MAC side might not show vast improvements on defense, and one or both of the Cambridge sisters could have outstanding performances defensively, but watch for a third person to step up. In the current starting five, that is either guard Chance Gray or forward Kylee Kitts. Gray is known more for her offensive contributions and Kitts is still adjusting to the college game, although she is making strides.
Bench guard Ava Watson is a strong option off the bench for defensive ability. The guard played in a press in high school, a similar setup to the Buckeyes, and has experience playing with Jaloni Cambridge not only last season with Ohio State but in AAU during high school.
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Also, one of few positives for the Buckeyes in that Sunday defeat was the play of Watson. In 18 minutes, Watson was the only player on the team with double-digit minutes and a positive plus/minus. Watson scored seven points, went 2-of-2 from the floor and added a steal and a block.
When Ohio State showed progress in the third quarter, albeit when forward Sarah Strong was on the bench, the sophomore Watson shined for the Buckeyes.
Elsa Lemmilä’s Status
It is a slightly different story for the Buckeyes’ sophomore in the paint. Lemmilä started all three games for Ohio State this season, but in post game press conferences, McGuff shard that she is still on her way back from rehab from two surgeries.
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“Elsa [Lemmilä] is obviously still kind of developing, coming off all the rehab this summer, so she’s still a ways from being who she’s capable of being,“ said McGuff following the defeat against UConn.
Lemmilä showed the play that she had last season, where she was a role player off the bench behind forward Ajae Petty, in stints this year. Teams adjusted to her size and Lemmilä has had quiet moments in games, but it looks more like a player and a team adjusting to one another. There are growing pains everywhere on the roster.
On Sunday, Lemmilä was in positions where she had to advance the ball and it resulted in turnovers. If that is truly because of injuries, the question is why is the Finnish big starting every game? Would it benefit Lemmilä to slowly come back into games rather than take a bulk of the minutes? Only the Buckeyes and their team doctors know for sure.
A reason why a potentially injured Lemmilä is playing could be the lack of depth in the paint. The other player who could step in as the team’s center is Ella Hobbs, who is recovering from a season-long ACL tear. Seini Hicks does not fit a like-for-like in the position and a change to four guards would change the Buckeyes’ strategy.
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If Wednesday goes the way it looks on paper for Ohio State, that should afford Lemmilä time both on the court and less minutes to aide recovery.
The Golden Flashes
Wednesday night features an in-state matchup against Kent State, a team that has characteristics of a team who could surprise the Buckeyes. After the Golden Flashes lost their first two games of the season, both lopsided defeats, Kent is on a three-game winning streak.
Of those two losses, the second came against the West Virginia Mountaineers, who showed the college basketball world last week that they are a tough team after they defeated the Duke Blue Devils despite only having five available players due to first half ejections.
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After that 88-47 loss, Kent State beat Canton, Ohio’s Walsh University, Xavier University and come in on a high note after a 92-45 rout of Niagara University, a team the Buckeyes host on Nov. 30.
What makes Kent State tough is their chemistry. The Golden Flashes used 12 players from their 14 player roster this season, and only two of them are transfers, and only one of those transfers is in their first year at Kent State. Additionally, the Golden Flashes have seven upperclassmen, a vast experience strength over the young Buckeyes.
The Golden Flashes are not a flashy deep shooting side, but they will go into the paint and get to the free throw line. Kent State is third in the MAC with 23.8 free throw attempts per game. Leading scorer Mya Babbitt is one of the benefactors of that aggressive interior play. The guard takes 3.2 per game and hits them at a 93.8% clip.
Kent State is also second in the MAC in rebounds with 41 per game, a stat that shows the Golden Flashes are not a team to give up loose ball opportunities. They will fight for extra possessions, especially against the in-state juggernaut that is the Ohio State University.
Wednesday is the final game for the Buckeyes until they travel to the Bahamas to compete in the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship. Ohio State starts on Monday against the Belmont Bruins, a team that gave the Scarlet and Gray issues last season.
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Should the Buckeyes win, a matchup with either the West Virginia Mountaineers or McNeese State Cowgirls would follow on Wednesday, depending on who wins. Win or lose, the Buckeyes will face one of the two other sides on the opposite side of the four-team “tournament.”
