The Buckeyes face the Bruins in the away edition of a home-and-home series
For the first time in the young 2024-25 Ohio State women’s basketball season, the Buckeyes are on the road. The Scarlet and Gray head to Nashville, Tennessee to face the Belmont Bruins for the second time in two seasons.
While there’s no longer a family connection between the two sides with head coach Kevin McGuff’s daughter Kilyn McGuff transferring in the offseason, the Bruins have attributes the new-look Buckeyes haven’t seen yet this season.
Preview
Ohio State’s made a living off mid-major teams so far this season. While only two games have been played, Sunday’s trip to Belmont is the third against a non-Power Five school and part of the 10 of 11 non-conference games not playing a team from one of the heavy-hitting conferences.
Before the season, coach McGuff admitted it’s part who’s available when it comes to scheduling but also getting the opportunity to play sides who are sneaky good, and can challenge the Buckeyes. So far that hasn’t happened, but with Belmont, things could get interesting, at least in stints.
Belmont’s been to the NCAA Tournament four times in the last seven seasons. In that run, they weren’t all one-and-done appearances. Take the 2022 tournament as the best example. In the Bruins’ final season in the Ohio Valley Conference, Belmont shocked not one but two teams in March.
Head coach Bart Brooks led his Bruins side to a double overtime win over the Oregon Ducks and narrowly lost to the Tennessee Volunteers 67-70 in the second round. Belmont is successful because they’re well-balanced.
In the second year of Missouri Valley Conference play, Belmont ended the campaign second behind the Drake Bulldogs, but with their man coverage defense allowed the least amount of points per game in the conference (62.3). They hold onto the ball well, giving up less than 15 turnovers per game and offensively take a lot of shots from deep.
Last season, Belmont was second to Drake with eight three-point shots made per game, and anyone can score them for Brooks’ side. Like forward Kendal Cheesman. The 6-foot-2 senior, who Brooks took out of the lineup to come off the bench this week in a win against Kennesaw State, scored 19 points including five shots from outside.
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
The Bruins will challenge a Buckeyes team that allowed nine three-point shots against Cleveland State to start the season. Belmont will bring a similar challenge defensively, making Ohio State think twice about putting more of a presence in the paint.
Also, with a big like Cheesman who can score anywhere, it potentially takes Ohio State’s Ajae Petty out of the box or allows a shorter guard to post up against the forward. If Belmont is successful at drawing Petty out to the perimeter, it could mean trouble on the boards for the Scarlet and Gray, with Petty averaging five rebounds per game in the early season.
However, the biggest question for the Buckeyes isn’t in Xs and Os — it’s the status of Jaloni Cambridge.
The freshman phenom started her NCAA career strong, scoring 31 points against the CSU Vikings, but fell hard against the Charlotte 49ers to start the second half. McGuff said there was no way they’d put Cambridge back in with the game out of reach for Charlotte, which means if needed the point guard could have gotten into the game. Cambridge sat on the bench, and stood near it for a good chunk of the second half, after a brief trip to the medical room.
Will an abundance of caution have McGuff hold Cambridge back from starting in a game in her hometown?
If Cambridge doesn’t start, Madison Greene is already a starting-caliber point guard. While the scoring won’t be as explosive, giving Cambridge another game to rest wouldn’t be the end of the world. Based on McGuff’s starting habits though, it seems likely that Cambridge is in from the jump.
Should Cambridge not play, it means the injury to the guard might be more than was initially known following Tuesday’s home win.
Ohio State will still also have Cotie McMahon, Taylor Thierry, and Chance Gray to provide consistent offense. McMahon’s scoring numbers are down but are giving the ball away less and playing a more mature small-forward role for McGuff as players like Cambridge and Gray shine.
Against Charlotte, Gray had a program record trying nine three-pointers made in a game in only her second game as a Buckeye. It was Gray’s career-best scoring game ever after starting two years with the Oregon Ducks. That experience and shooting ability will be hard for the Bruins to stop if it carries over to the road trip.
It’s hard to compare Sunday’s game in Nashville to last season because both teams have different rosters. Each side has a vastly different starting lineup than last year when Ohio State 84-55. Cheesman returns from last year, along with fellow Preseason All-MVC picks Tuti Jones and Jailyn Banks. Last year, the three combined for 23 points against the Buckeyes, with Cheesman leading the way with 13. Expect the Bruins to fare better at home.
Joining them are Emily La Chappell and Kendall Holmes, both newer names to the program and averaging a combined 21 points per game.
Ohio State
G- Jaloni Cambridge
G- Chance Gray
G- Taylor Thierry
F- Cotie McMahon
F- Ajae Petty
Lineup Notes
- Taylor Thierry is 47 points away from scoring 1,000 as a Buckeye
- Elsa Lemmilä leads the team in rebounds per game with 6.5
- Chance Gray tied Jaloni Cambridge scoring 19.5 points per game with her historic shooting night against Charlotte
Belmont
G- Jailyn Banks
G- Emily La Chappell
G- Kendall Holmes
G- Tuti Jones
F- Kendal Cheesman
Lineup Notes
- Kendal Cheesman started 36 straight games for Belmont until coming off the bench in the Bruins’ last game, against Kennesaw State.
- Kendall Holmes and Emily La Chappell are both transfers into Belmont. Holmes joined this season from South Dakota State and La Chappell joined from Marquette last season, but didn’t play against the Buckeyes.
- The Bruins are the winningest WBB team in Tennessee in the past ten years, winning 236 games, the Tennessee Volunteers have 224
Prediction
Cambridge will start, not missing a chance to play in front of her home crowd alongside her sister Kennedy Cambridge. Belmont will play stronger than last season, but the gap of talent is large enough that Ohio State will respond after a strong start from the Bruins.
Expect a first quarter where Belmont may even outscore the Buckeyes, but timeout and between-quarter adjustments will favor the Buckeyes. Taylor Thierry will have a more productive game with Belmont trying more outside play on offense. Thierry will be a strong outlet when Petty gets defensive attention, and defensively be able to post up against Cheesman should she move to the perimeter and shoot from deep.
How to Watch
Date: Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024
Time: 3 p.m. ET
Where: Curb Event Center, Nashville, Tennessee
Stream: ESPN+
LGHL Score Prediction: 85-67, Ohio State Buckeyes
Sisters Celebrated
The Cambridge family has a strong footprint in Nashville basketball. At Ensworth High School, the Cambridge sisters led them to multiple state titles, and the younger Cambridge, Jaloni, won Girls Basketball Player of the Year three times with the Tennessean and once as Gatorade’s Tennessee Player of the Year.
That’s in addition to older sister Jordyn Cambridge playing at Vanderbilt for four seasons, including three inclusions in the SEC All-Defensive Team.
To celebrate, the Cambridge sisters had a giveaway for tickets. It wasn’t anything in conjunction with Ohio State University or NIL, and it gives their home fans a chance to see them live against the Bruins in what should be a strong pro-Cambridge crowd in Nashville.