For the second consecutive year, the Ohio State women's basketball team is going
into the Big Ten tournament coming off a loss on the road. The Buckeyes closed the regular season on Sunday by
falling to Maryland 93-90 when the Terrapins' Sarah Te-Biasu hit a 3-point basket in the final seconds of overtime. It marked the Buckeyes' fifth loss and slimmed their chances of hosting the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Ohio State was already barley hanging onto a top-16 spot in the NCAA committee's rankings last week. But with this loss, there are still positives for Ohio State to build off unlike
the demoralizing loss that closed last season against Iowa. "We could have won. We didn't," Ohio State coach
Kevin McGuff said. "But we've played pretty well the last three games against really good competition, and I think we're in a good spot. But we've got to take that same competitive character into next weekend." The Iowa loss last season was
the end of a 15-game winning streak for the Buckeyes and was the beginning of a free fall. Entering last season's Big Ten tournament as the No. 1 seed,
Ohio State was eliminated in its first game against Maryland , hitting a low after being outrebounded 55-31. Ohio State was then
knocked out of the NCAA Tournament by Duke in the second round. The Buckeyes feels they've already taken their lumps this season, and even with the loss have improved since dropping its game to unranked
Indiana 71-61 on Feb. 20. "We got closer to 40 minutes that we have in recent games," McGuff said. "I think that’s key for us. When we’re good, our good is good enough to beat a lot of people." After the Indiana game,
Ohio State defeated Purdue and a ranked
Michigan State team. The Buckeyes remained close to Maryland in every aspect of their matchup, specifically on the boards, with the Terrapins grabbing 37 compared to Ohio State's 32. In past matchups, the Terrapins have outrebounded the Buckeyes by at least 10, including
Ohio State's 74-66 victory on Jan. 23 at Value City Arena. Despite the loss, Ohio State still has momentum going into tournament play.
Ohio State displays bench strength during foul trouble vs Maryland
One of the biggest disadvantages the Buckeyes had to overcome was self inflicted. Ohio State's top-two scorers, Cotie McMahon and
Taylor Thierry , who combined for 31 points in regulation, both had four fouls going into overtime. Freshman point guard
Jaloni Cambridge had already been on the bench for over six minutes after getting charged with her fifth in the fourth quarter, and played only 18 minutes overall. "The depth of this team is one of our strengths," McGuff said. "It's unfortunate to have two of the best players in the league sitting on the bench for most of the game with fouls, but I was happy for some of the people who came off the bench and stepped up." Sixth-year point guard
Madison Greene ran the offense with Cambridge benched, putting together 12 points and two assists.
The Buckeyes overcame what they perceived to be questionable calls vs Maryland
Following the loss, Thierry said she "expects horrible calls" entering every game. "At the end of the game, that doesn't effect our effort," Thierry said. "Everything can't be said as an excuse." In the final minute of overtime, there was a jump ball call on a Kennedy Cambridge layup from the middle of the paint, that looked like it could have been a foul against Maryland. McGuff was seen arguing with an official over the call that gave Maryland the ball back. "She (Maryland center Allie Kubek) had her hand on her wrist, and then the ball went to the ground," McGuff said. "On what planet we came up with a jump ball, I'm not sure, but that's what is was."
Flaws in OSU's game
The Indiana loss was a "wake-up call" for the Buckeyes, according to Jaloni Cambridge, and forced improvements to be made in the final stretch of the regular season. After averaging fewer than 29 rebounds in their 2-3 stretch starting with a loss against
UCLA on Feb. 5 , the Buckeyes grabbed 37.3 boards per game in their most recent matchups. Ohio State also averaged 50% shooting from the field in its final three games. Center Ajae Petty has been the reason for the Buckeyes' rebounding improvement, averaging 15.7 points and 13 boards in the past three games after failing to record a double-double since Jan. 12. The Purdue and Michigan State victories put the Buckeyes' on a high, but flaws that needed to be fixed before tournament play became clear to McGuff against Maryland, specifically cleaning up the 19 turnovers. "We made too many mistakes," McGuff said. "We had a lot of turnovers that led to easy Maryland baskets, and had a couple key opportunities for big defensive stops that we didn't get."
