The Buckeyes and Bobcats match up for the third consecutive season
Take a look at the 2024-25 Ohio State women’s basketball non-conference schedule, and it isn’t the most exciting slate of games. That was until Sunday. Now, after a 67-63 win over Belmont, that required a nine-point comeback in the last five minutes, no game seems automatically a win for the Scarlet and Gray.
Now, the Buckeyes take the quick trip south to face the Ohio Bobcats. Will the result mirror the past two seasons or can the Bobcats shock Ohio State?
Preview
It isn’t only Ohio State that has a tough result on its schedule. The Bobcats of Athens, Ohio welcome the Buckeyes Wednesday night with a 1-2 record, with all three games in OU’s friendly confines.
On Nov. 10, the Bobcats welcomed Bellarmine to Southeast Ohio and were defeated soundly 82-50. A double-digit loss that followed another when the Bobcats fell to Georgia Southern 72-60 to start the season.
Making life difficult for head coach Bob Bolden’s side is a pair of notable absences, due to injury. Bolden’s top scorers from last season, Jaya McClure and Kennedi Watkins, have each missed games for the MAC side.
In McClure’s case, she hasn’t played a minute of the season with an undisclosed injury. For Watkins, the senior forward played the first game of the season, scoring 26 points against Georgia Southern, but left after 11 minutes against Bellarmine.
Even with the prominent scorers sidelined, Ohio found a way to win over the weekend, defeating George Washington behind a career-high 15 points for Kate Dennis and 12 points and nine rebounds for Bailey Tabeling.
When the Buckeyes visit, it’ll be the first chance head coach Kevin McGuff’s side has to put their tough performance against the Bruins in the rearview mirror.
Ohio State beat Belmont thanks to a solid performance by junior forward Cotie McMahon and a fantastic final 17 seconds by Jaloni Cambridge, who recovered from a 1-of-9 start to the day to score the last four points and thwart the Bruins’ lone shot attempt to tie with 13 seconds remaining.
The Buckeyes’ 33.8% is the lowest shooting percentage in a win since beating Rutgers on Feb. 7, 2022, shooting 32.2%. In the past two years, Ohio State has been 3-8 in games where they shot below 40% from the floor.
Back to that 21-22 team, the Buckeyes won four games shooting under 40%, on their way to a share of the Big Ten title. In a season where the Buckeyes weren’t expected to compete for the regular season crown. While the Big Ten was without four former Pac-12 teams at that point, there are similarities between the sides.
Coach McGuff’s side back in the 21-22 season was led by a local star Jacy Sheldon and Ohioan-turned-Oregon transfer Taylor Mikesell. The Buckeyes used grit and sheer determination to come away with a trophy that season. In a year with plenty of performances like the Scarlet and Gray had Sunday at Belmont.
McMahon’s the local star now, out of Centerville. In three games, McMahon averages 16.3 points per game and is the only Buckeye to score in double figures in each of the first three games. Sunday, it was a mature performance that the rest of the team could rest on until the shots began to fall in the fourth quarter, shooting 58.3% in the fourth quarter.
In the past two seasons, the Buckeyes haven’t had trouble with the Bobcats. A 2022 trip to Athens ended in a 30-point win and last year Ohio State welcomed their in-state neighbors to the Schott and sent them home in an 85-45 rout.
Without their two top scorers in McClure and Watkins, the scales tip further in Ohio State’s favor, but there’s no word on the two players’ status for Ohio. Either way, in three games the Buckeyes have already faced three different kinds of teams.
They’ve faced zone, man coverage, and sides that love to shoot from deep. Unless there’s a further hangover after the win at Belmont, Ohio State’s shown they have the talent to make it a difficult night for the Bobcats.
Regardless of how the game goes, fans will come out for a top-15 school playing an in-state rival. A rivalry between universities with one’s athletics normally overshadowing the others. A big sibling vs. little sibling matchup, even though Ohio University has a longer history than Ohio State.
Ohio State
G- Jaloni Cambridge
G- Chance Gray
G- Taylor Thierry
F- Cotie McMahon
F- Ajae Petty
Lineup Notes
- Cambridge is second on the Buckeyes in points per game (16.3) and first in assists (5.0)
- Taylor Thierry’s had a quiet start to the season, but strong numbers against Belmont with 11 points and seven rebounds, and led scorers with six points in the fourth quarter
- McGuff’s used Ajae Petty and Elsa Lemmilä in a similar amount of minutes this year, with Petty starting and averaging 20.3 minutes, with Lemmilä logging 17.3 minutes per game
Ohio
G- Asiah Baxter
G- Kate Dennis
G- Anyssa Jones
G- Bailey Tabeling
G- Monica Williams
Lineup Notes
- Anyssa Jones played two seasons for the Buckeyes in the 20-21 and 21-22 seasons before transferring to Dayton for two seasons
- Monica Williams, Asiah Baxter, and Bailey Tabeling are both sophomores who played last year against Ohio State, scoring a combined 11 points
- Jaya McClure led Ohio scoring with nine points last year against the Buckeyes
Prediction
Ohio State will win the game soundly against the Bobcats unless we’re counting mascot fights. While the Convocation Center will be loud, with local fans upset-minded and the band as loud and exciting as ever, Ohio State will shoot better than 33 percent.
The Buckeyes’ size is an advantage over a team who has started five guards. That gives Ajae Petty and Taylor Thierry the advantage. With attention on them, Chance Gray and Jaloni Cambridge will have better nights shooting from deep than Sunday in Belmont.
How to Watch
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Where: Convocation Center, Athens, Ohio
Stream: ESPN+
LGHL Score Prediction: 92-58, Ohio State Buckeyes
Signing Day Addition & New Recruiting Coordinator
While signing day isn’t the most exciting day in recruiting these days with recruiting and different windows changing how things are done, Ohio State did sign a recruit from their 2025 class.
Daria Biriuk, a 6-foot-1 guard out of Ukraine, verbally committed in September out of the Webb School in Tennessee. She’s the lone recruit for next year’s class, so far. At media day this year, McGuff mentioned that 2025 won’t be as heavy of a recruiting year for Ohio State with the four players brought in this season.
Expect more for the 2026 season, led in part by Assistant Coach Jalen Powell who five days ago had Recruiting Coordinator added to her official title at the university. Powell was key in recruiting both Kennedy and Jaloni Cambridge to Ohio State. Kennedy through the transfer portal and Jaloni in the 2024 recruiting class.