Game preview: No. 12 Ohio State women’s basketball vs Nebraska

The Buckeyes head to the Vault Sunday afternoon, seeking a win to stay in the running for a Big Ten title.

The Ohio State women’s basketball team (18-1, 7-1) is in Lincoln, Nebraska Sunday afternoon to take on the Cornhuskers (15-4, 6-2). Like Ohio State, Nebraska is undefeated at home this season, heading into Sunday’s game with a perfect 12-0 record at Pinnacle Bank Arena, aka “The Vault.”

The Buckeyes now enter a four-game stretch that will determine whether or not they will be cutting nets down in five weeks and celebrating a Big Ten championship. After Sunday’s game against the ‘Huskers, Ohio State gets six days off and returns home to face the 10th-place Washington Huskies.

Then, the Buckeyes will head west to face No. 4 USC and top-ranked UCLA — both of whom are undefeated in conference play this season. They also happen to be the only two team ahead of the Buckeyes in the B1G standings.

But enough about the future, back to the present.

---

Preview

Kevin McGuff’s team bounced back from an upset loss to Penn State last weekend by holding serve at home against No. 8 Maryland Thursday night, 74-66. Freshman supernova Jaloni Cambridge led the Buckeyes with 20 points and eight rebounds over 31 minutes, setting a career-high in boards.

Jaloni’s older sister Kennedy Cambridge chipped in 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting over 24 minutes against the Terrapins. Her dozen points was a career-high, and she also had five rebounds, four steals, and three assists. She stepped up with the absence of Chance Gray, who did play in the game, but struggled to an extent that she was more or less invisible. Gray was scoreless in 21 minutes, shooting 0-for-7 and committing two fouls.

The Terrapins had a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter and a seven-point advantage at halftime against the Buckeyes in Columbus. Ohio State ripped off a 15-0 run in the third quarter to pull ahead, ultimately winning by eight.

Last February when these teams last met, Ohio State’s full-court press tortured and entangled the Cornhuskers, forcing them into an astounding 30 turnovers. Ohio State turned those 30 turnovers into 29 points, and went on to win, 80-47. Cotie McMahon had a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double in the rout.

It’s year nine for Nebraska head coach Amy Williams, who herself played for the program from 1994-1998. The ‘Huskers are on pace to potentially surpass last year’s success, when they went 23-12, finished in fifth place in the Big Ten, and won their first NCAA Tournament game in 10 years.

Nebraska is fresh off of a 91-60 win over Wisconsin Monday night. Senior guard Kendall Moriarty scored a career-high 17 points for the ‘Huskers, who went back and forth with Wisconsin for roughly one quarter before opening up the floodgates and running away with the game. Moriarty was also 3-for-4 from three-point range, and as a team Nebraska was 16-for-32 from beyond the arc.

Moriarty is one of seven Nebraska players who are shooting 35% or better from three-point range this season. Nebraska averages 8.5 made three-pointers per game this season — the highest mark in the Big Ten. At 36.5%, they also have the second-best three-point shooting percentage in the conference.

Williams’ team is led by senior forward Alexis Markowski (14.5 PPG, 8.2 REB) and freshman guard Britt Prince (13.6 PPG, 4.6 REB, 3.2 AST, 39.4% 3PT). Markowski recorded five assists against Wisconsin this week, more than doubling her season average and making it her first game in in over two months where she’s recorded more than four assists.

In her career, Markowski has scored 1,639 points and grabbed 1,112 rebounds. She is nearing top-10 in program history in scoring, but what is more astounding is that the 6-foot-3 senior is now three rebounds away from becoming the all-time program leader at Nebraska. Considering that she’s grabbed at least three rebounds in 18 of 19 games this season, it feels pretty safe to assume that she will break that record on Sunday afternoon against Ohio State.

In three career games against Ohio State, Nebraska’s soon-to-be all-time rebounding leader has averaged 15.6 points and 13 rebounds per game, while shooting an even 50%. All three of those games were Ohio State wins over Nebraska.

Prince, the other side of Nebraska’s two-headed monster, has stepped up her game considerably during Nebraska’s five-game winning streak. During the ‘Huskers’ last five games, Prince is averaging 16.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. She is also shooting 38.7% from three-point range during that stretch.

Look for Ohio State to try to pressure Prince into some mistakes on Sunday afternoon, although the freshman has committed just seven turnovers over the last four games, so it may not be as easy as it seems. If Nebraska can avoid committing 30 turnovers this year and move the ball without letting Ohio State’s chaos break them down, Prince could have a big game.

---

How to Watch

Date: Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025
Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
Where: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, NE
Stream: B1G+

---

LGHL Score Prediction: No. 12 Ohio State 74, Nebraska 71