The Ohio State freshman shares the win with an upcoming opponent from Nebraska.
The weekend ended poorly for No. 12 Ohio State women’s basketball, dropping a tough game against unranked Penn State to lose their first game of the season. On Monday, the program earned some good news with freshman Jaloni Cambridge earning her second consecutive Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor. This week, sharing it with Nebraska guard Britt Prince.
Part of the reason Sunday ended poorly for the Buckeyes was Cambridge’s absence. The freshman missed the game due to illness. Even so, the one game where Cambridge did play this week was more than enough to earn the point guard her honor.
In Thursday’s game against the Wisconsin Badgers, Cambridge exploded out of the gates and scored 19 points in the first half. Cambridge started the game going 2-of-3 from the floor in the first quarter and attacking the basket aggressively. In the second quarter, Cambridge hit another level, scoring 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting, this time from deep, midrange, and near the rim.
Wisconsin struggled to effectively stop the No. 1 overall point guard recruit of the 2024 class and when Cambridge saw indecision, she pounced. Cambridge ended the 80-69 Ohio State victory with 27 points, a career-high eight rebounds, and a team-high four assists.
Cambridge’s individual honor is the second in a row for the freshman, which ties her with Rutgers Scarlet Knights’ guard Kiyomi McMiller and Michigan Wolverines’ guard Syla Swords as the only players in the conference to earn the award twice in the 2024-25 season.
Sharing the award with Cambridge is Prince, the Nebraska guard who scored 22 points to help the Cornhuskers defeat the Iowa Hawkeyes in Iowa City for the first time since 2018. Prince hit a pair of free throws with 2.8 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime where the Cornhuskers won 87-84. Prince also had a career-high in made three-point shots (5) and steals (6).
The Buckeyes head to Nebraska Sunday to face Prince, forward Alexis Markowski, and the Cornhuskers on their home court. It’s been four years since the Buckeyes lost to the Cornhuskers, but that came in Lincoln, Nebraska before most of both rosters were in college.
Winning Big Ten Player of the Week this week was No. 8 Maryland Terrapins’ Shyanne Sellers. The Ohio native led the Terps over the No. 24 Minnesota Golden Gophers and will be at the Schottenstein Center Thursday when the two ranked sides face each other for the first of two regular-season games this season.
Last week, Cambridge won the honor for scoring 22 of her 29 points against the Michigan Wolverines to erase a 16-point second-quarter deficit to defeat the then-ranked Wolverines side.