The Buckeyes start a two-game road trip in Madison
After one home game, No. 9 Ohio State women’s basketball (16-0, 5-0) heads north Thursday to face the Wisconsin Badgers (10-7, 1-5). It’s the start of a two-game road trip that ends Sunday against the Penn State Nittany Lions. The trip comes a week before the Buckeyes face their next big test when the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins head to Columbus.
Ohio State and Wisconsin is a matchup of teams at the top and bottom of the Big Ten standings, with the Buckeyes going for a 17-0 start to the season while the Badgers hope to end a five-game losing streak.
Preview
Wisconsin welcomes the Buckeyes to Madison in their second game since losing both games of a two-game trip to the Pacific Northwest, but the Badgers are showing some progress. On Saturday, the 8th-ranked Terrapins were in Madison and at the end of the third quarter, the Badgers were only down two points. Granted, that was with Maryland down two starters, but guards Shyanne Sellers and Kaylene Smikle still played, outscoring Wisconsin by 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Leading the Badgers this year is forward Serah Williams. Since joining the program before the 22-23 season, Williams has been a game changer, winning multiple honors each season, including two All-Defensive Team spots, a place on the All-Freshman team and the 23-24 Defensive Player of the Year award.
The 6-foot-4 forward has one double-double in two games against Ohio State, scoring 16 points and grabbing 11 rebounds on Feb. 1, 2024 in an 87-49 Ohio State win. Williams is having a career season, with career highs in points (18.5), rebounds (11.2) and assists (2.5). The assists show how the big’s game is expanding with the Badgers.
Now, Williams is getting the ball to her teammates more frequently, which in-turn is getting her more space to move when she does have the ball.
Going up against the forward Thursday will be Ohio State forward Ajae Petty who had a 13-point, 14-rebound, double-double against the Oregon Ducks on Sunday, a 69-60 Ohio State win. It was Petty’s fourth double-double this season. However, it’s the defensive side of the ball where Petty will have to focus with Williams on the court.
This season, Petty has experience playing well defensively against a talented big when Petty went one-on-one against Illinois Fighting Illini forward Kendall Bostic. Although the Illinois post threat had 17 points and 13 rebounds in the 83-74 Illini loss to Ohio State last month, a majority of those points came in the second quarter after Petty and the Buckeyes stifled the forward in the first half. Bostic adjusted and stopped focusing on the paint, offensively. Instead, Bostic took more mid-range jumpers in the second half.
Williams has the ability to do the exact same thing, using her size to hit turnaround mid-range jumpers with relative ease. That shooting will keep the Buckeyes busy in the post.
Quick @SerahWilliams25 bucket to start Wisco off #NCAAWBB x BTN / @BadgerWBB pic.twitter.com/7hcns7ZknQ
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) January 11, 2025
Ohio State will need to throw double teams at Williams Thursday night because of the sheer ability of the Wisconsin forward, but this season the forward has help.
Oberlin, Ohio-native Carter McCray transferred into the program from Northern Kentucky of the Horizon League in the offseason. McCray is second on the team averaging 9.8 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game as she adjusts to play in the Big Ten. In the Horizon League, McCray averaged a double-double of 15.7 points and 11.2 rebounds — but it’s a different world in a power conference.
The duo of Williams and McCray means that Petty will need help inside, likely coming from senior Taylor Thierry. Size-wise, the two pairs match up well, but how will Petty do against the quick and agile Williams?
Returning with Williams are guards Ronnie Porter and Natalie Leuzinger. Porter will match up with Ohio State freshman Jaloni Cambridge with shooting guard Chance Gray likely going up against Leuzinger.
Ohio State matches up well against the Badgers, as long as the team isn’t looking too far into the future with the Terrapins approaching.
Projected Starters
Ohio State
G- Jaloni Cambridge
G- Chance Gray
G- Taylor Thierry
F- Cotie McMahon
F- Ajae Petty
Lineup Notes
- Last season, the Buckeyes forced 27 Badger turnovers and defeated Wisconsin with a program-record 39 points in the third quarter of an eventual 87-49 win.
- Taylor Thierry and Jaloni Cambridge are both in the top-10 in steals per game, with Thierry stealing 2.4 per game and 2.2 per game for Cambridge.
- Chance Gray is one rebound and one assist away from having 200 in her career.
Wisconsin
G- Ronnie Porter
G- Tess Myers
G- Natalie Leuzinger
F- Serah Williams
C- Carter McCray
Lineup Notes
- Serah Williams leads the Big Ten with 191 rebounds and 47 blocks.
- Williams is leading the conference in blocks for the third season in a row.
Tess Myers transferred to Wisconsin after four seasons at Duquesne. The 5-foot-9 senior guard from Pittsburgh left having made 279 three-pointers at Duquesne — ninth-most all-time in the A-10 conference.
Prediction
Ohio State has failed to put together a four quarter performance against power conference opponents this season. The Buckeyes will do better this time around, getting off to a hot start on the road, but stumbling slightly in the second quarter.
Cotie McMahon will lead the Scarlet and Gray in scoring, playing better than a Sunday performance that was lessened due to fouls.
The Buckeyes come away with a mostly comfortable victory and set their sights on Penn State.
How to Watch
Date: Thursday, Jan. 6, 2025
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
Where: Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin
Stream: Peacock
LGHL Score Prediction: 86-72, Ohio State Buckeyes
“We Play the Hand We’re Dealt”
A frequent complaint about the Ohio State schedule this season is the lack of accessible games on television or popular streaming platforms. So far, four of the Buckeyes’ Big Ten games were relegated to B1G+, the official streaming service of the conference.
The biggest complaint came Wednesday, Jan. 8 when the No. 9 Buckeyes faced then No. 25 Michigan, in Ann Arbor. Land-Grant Holy Land asked head coach Kevin McGuff about it in midweek media availability.
“I was a little surprised the Michigan game wasn’t on more of a linear network,” said McGuff. “I would love for us to obviously get more exposure on those networks, but we play the hand we’re dealt.”
What it means are less eyes on Ohio State in a season that’s full of intrigue and fan excitement with new players and an expanded conference schedule.
The good news for Buckeye fans is that only three of the remaining 13 conference games are on B1G+, with four on Peacock (including Thursday’s game at Wisconsin) and the remaining six on either Big Ten Network or a FOX sports channel.
The Big Ten has a problem, trying to balance 18 men’s and 18 women’s teams on one network and a Peacock contract that’s lacking. The pace in which this first expanded basketball season was planned is evident but now that the conference has time, there has to be a better way, or additional outlets, to get in-demand games on the air. That or on a streaming platform that has more pull than B1G+.