Taylor Thierry and Cotie McMahon named to Naismith watch lists

The upperclassmen leaders of the Buckeyes both earn recognition for their work this season

Hours before No. 8 Ohio State women’s basketball plays the No. 1 UCLA Bruins, forwards Cotie McMahon and Taylor Thierry received recognition on Naismith award watch lists. For McMahon, a place in the top 10 of the Cheryl Miller Award for best small forward and Thierry landed on the top 15 of Naismith’s Defensive Player of the Year honor.

Naismith listed McMahon on their preseason Cheryl Miller Award watch list too and this season the junior has earned the recognition. Moving into a more upfront leadership role on the court for the Buckeyes, McMahon leads Ohio State with 16.5 points per game, a career high.

The way McMahon scores the points is also changing. No longer is McMahon a one-move player attacking the basket, spinning through defenders and hitting layups. While McMahon still has those moves, the forward added more perimeter shooting to her arsenal in the offseason. McMahon played for USA Basketball’s youth 3×3 team over the summer. The game requires speed, defense and shooting, which is evident this year with the Buckeyes.

With eight games remaining, McMahon already eclipsed her personal best of 15 three-point shots made in the season, already up to 18 for the 24-25 campaign. McMahon shoots them at 31.6 percent efficiency, which isn’t at the top of the Big Ten but a career high as the forward continues to grow from beyond the arc.

Inside the paint, McMahon also added a turnaround midrange jumper. These additions mean that defenders can no longer sit in the paint and try to put up a wall to stop the forward, opening up room for other players like guard Jaloni Cambridge and forward Ajae Petty.

In addition to the Cheryl Miller Award, the USBWA added McMahon to their Ann Meyers-Drysdale Award for player of the year watch list on Monday, along with Cambridge.

For Thierry, the senior gets a spot on the Defensive Player of the Year watch list for the first time in her career. In 2023, the forward earned a spot on the Big Ten’s Defensive Team of the Year, along with two consecutive seasons on the All-Big Ten Second Team.

This season, Thierry has a career high defensive rating of 77.6, meaning every 100 possessions opponents score that many points when Thierry is on the court. Thierry’s 2.4 steals per game is second in the Big Ten.

Thierry gets her steals often in the full court press, forcing poor passes and taking away possessions through her jumping ability and through poking the ball away in one-on-one defense.

On January 8, in Ann Arbor, Thierry had a steal late in the fourth quarter that helped cement a 16-point comeback victory for the Buckeyes. It showed the senior’s range as it was with the hybrid guard/forward anticipating a pass in half court defense and turning it into two easy fast break points.

With less than a minute in the game, Thierry also added a block negating any chance of a late victory for the Wolverines.

Joining McMahon from the Big Ten are Yarden Garzon of Indiana and Grace VanSlooten from Michigan State. In the top 15 with Thierry are Big Ten stars Lauren Betts of UCLA, Serah Williams of Wisconsin and a pair of USC Trojans with Rayah Marshall and JuJu Watkins.

Click here to see all 10 Cheryl Miller Award finalists and here for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year field.