The then-winless in Big Ten play Nittany Lions had more down the stretch, in a lackluster display for the Buckeyes
Head coach Kevin McGuff doesn’t subscribe to the notion of losses making a team better. The head coach of Ohio State women’s basketball would rather learn lessons in victories, and Sunday was anything but for the Buckeyes against the Nittany Lions.
Ohio State was outshot, outrebounded, and had fewer fast break points than Penn State, the third a particularly tough pill to swallow for a Scarlet and Gray side that prides itself on turning the ball over and moving in open space.
Following the game, McGuff talked about the Buckeyes’ tough display, having to play against Penn State defenders parked in the paint, and updated on Jaloni Cambridge’s status (out due to illness). However, when asked about any positives they could grow on from the defeat, and his response was short and sweet.
“No.”
For those who only caught the start of the game, the end result was mind-boggling. Ohio State went on a 14-2 run to start the game, was turning the ball over with frequency, and hitting shots even more so.
Then, something changed. Penn State started to charge at the paint through guards Jayla Oden and Talayah Walker. At halftime, a 12-point lead turned into a three-point deficit for the Buckeyes. Something in that first quarter changed off the court.
“Our want to really win, honestly,” said Cotie McMahon. “We had no fight. We had no grit. We have stretches of it, but those are some things that you can’t have stretches of. You’ve got to have the full 40 minutes.”
McMahon was a rare example of the grit of Ohio State, in the defeat. Sure, the junior forward led the team with 19 points, but McMahon was active everywhere on the court. When McMahon picked up her second foul in the first half and went to the bench, the tone of the game changed.
When the forward returned, so did Ohio State. The third quarter featured four lead changes between the sides, that is due in part to McMahon playing aggressively despite getting into foul trouble. McMahon stood in front of players on defense to earn three charges and finished the day adding 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, and a block.
The junior also had the final steal of the game that almost turned into the game-tying shot but there are five players on the court for a team. For all the work of McMahon, she couldn’t do it all on her own.
Chance Gray excelled alongside McMahon, adding 18 points, but went 4-of-12 from beyond the arc. The two toughest misses came in the final 13 seconds. On what might have been the final offensive play, Gray had the ball and took a deep three with ample time on the clock to try and build out a play. The shot was blocked.
“She was a little bit rushed just given the time and she probably could have shot faked,” said McGuff. “But you know whatever, it didn’t come down to that play in my opinion.”
Ohio State made two shots in the run of play the entire fourth quarter, and both came from Gray. The rest of Gray’s teammates went 0-of-4 in the final quarter.
Following the game, coach McGuff talked with the team but sometimes the most valuable conversations come from within the players sitting at the lockers.
“We let each other have it when it’s needed. We do a good job of really just taking that in and not having hard feelings about it. But we’re very honest with ourselves and our relationships with each other,” said McMahon. “So we definitely had a hard talk.”
Time will tell if that talk turns into action, and for the Buckeyes to stay in the conversation at the top of the Big Ten, Ohio State has three days to improve with the No. 8 Maryland Terrapins coming to Columbus on Thursday.
“Sometimes you need a loss and this was,” said McMahon. “It sucks, but I think this is what we needed to kind of bring us together and honestly make us realize that people are coming for us. So if we don’t go hard 40 minutes, then this is the shit that’s going to happen.”