For the Buckeyes, attacking the basket is not the only way to win.
Ohio State women’s basketball features two dynamic stars who bring speed and creativity inside the paint. Freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge is arguably one of the fastest players in the country and she uses speed to break through defenses to hit layups with frequency. Junior forward Cotie McMahon has the speed of a guard but the size of a forward, a combination that makes teams struggle.
The two offensive stars for head coach Kevin McGuff have been crucial this season. Cambridge and McMahon have taken over games and pushed the Buckeyes to wins in games where the rest of the team was not as productive offensively.
For Ohio State to move on in the NCAA Tournament, that will not be enough on Sunday night against the Tennessee Volunteers. On Friday, the Buckeyes showed that passing and finding teammates is the key to making the Ohio State offense click.
In the second quarter, the Scarlet and Gray did not move the ball well, with only one assist in the first 7:13 minutes of the period. Combine this with a period of calls against the Buckeyes, including a technical foul assessed to McGuff for his frustration boiling over because of those calls, and the No. 13-seeded Montana State Bobcats had a four-point lead.
Ohio State responded with turnovers and fast-break baskets to go on a nine-point run, erasing the Bobcats’ lead. The mid-major side did not come back in the game because, following a halftime locker room talk by McGuff, the Buckeyes refocused their attention on their passing game, and the First-Round contest broke wide open for Ohio State.
“What we mostly talked about is making the extra pass,” McGuff said. “Because I thought we were getting great opportunities but taking tougher shots than we needed to.”
In the third quarter, five of Ohio State’s first six baskets came off an assist. With McMahon and Cambridge on the floor, and taking up attention on defense, the pair went from offensive attackers to expert passers.
McMahon and Cambridge accounted for three of those five to start the half, with guard/forward Taylor Thierry getting into the fun with two of her own.
When those passes go around the floor, the team still needs someone to put the ball into the basket and that was shooting guard Chance Gray. The junior transfer out of the Oregon Ducks program played in her first NCAA Tournament game on Friday and was not afraid of the spotlight. Gray hit her first three shots of the second half, all from beyond the arc.
“I was kind of ready to shoot whenever my teammates got the ball,” Gray said. “We were moving the ball really well. And that’s something we’ve been emphasizing the last couple of weeks, just one dribble, push the ball up the floor and see what we can get, get easy shots and do simple things.”
Gray Gets Buckets
No big deal just 3️⃣ straight three pointers to open the second half ️@chancegrayy | #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/wDKneOzMQo
— Ohio State Women’s Basketball (@OhioStateWBB) March 22, 2025
Ohio State made baskets which allowed the team to get into their press and cause issues on the defensive end of the court. It’s no coincidence that the third quarter featured eight turnovers by the Bobcats. It tied the first quarter when the Buckeyes were also finding teammates with five total assists to start the first 10 minutes.
Cambridge led the Scarlet and Gray with six assists, and McMahon was second with four, on top of 12 points for the freshman and 15 for the junior. The Buckeyes ended the night with 17 assists. When Ohio State has at least 15 assists in a game, their record is 15-1. That lone loss came against the Penn State Nittany Lions, with Cambridge out due to illness.
On Sunday, Tennessee is not going to be the same challenge as Montana State. For one, the Volunteers are more athletic with higher-ranked recruits coming into the program than the mid-major Bobcats. Also, the Vols play a different style of defense.
The Vols bring full-court pressure one-on-one, doing their best to make even getting the ball up the court difficult, with traps coming when the Buckeyes make it across mid-court. Montana played a game more aligned with Ohio State by throwing two players toward the ball to try and force bad passes.
The Buckeyes ball handling will be crucial and when they get into their offensive end of the court, those passes will continue if Ohio State hopes to move into their third Sweet Sixteen in four seasons.
McMahon and Cambridge are going to be a focus, especially when they go to the basket. What the two do when they have the ball will go a long way to determine the Buckeyes’ end result.