Minnesota heads to #9 Ohio State Thursday night
The Minnesota Golden Gophers women’s basketball team will have a tough game on Thursday night when they head to Columbus to face off against #9 Ohio State. Minnesota is still looking for a huge Quad 1 win to lock in their NCAA Tournament aspirations, and despite the rank of the Buckeyes, Minnesota actually matches up somewhat well against Ohio State. We asked Thomas Costello of Land Grant Holy and, the Ohio State SB Nation Site a few questions about tonight’s game and the Buckeyes. If you want to see the questions that we answered about the Gophers for them, the link is HERE.
TDG: The Buckeyes have lost a lot of their top scorers from last year’s Big Ten championship squad. How have their portal additions help their team this year:
LGHL: Ohio State struggled last year in rebounding and deep shooting, so that’s what was addressed in the offseason. Coach Kevin McGuff went to the SEC and earned the commitment of Kentucky forward Ajae Petty, one of only four players in the SEC last season who averaged a double-double with points and rebounds. For shooting beyond the arc, the Buckeyes stayed close and picked up the play of Ohioan Chance Gray. The shooting guard played two seasons with the Oregon Ducks before heading back to her home state. McGuff coached her older sister back in his Xavier coaching days too, so it was a natural fit. Petty and Gray have both come in and helped in those areas. For example, the Buckeyes were dead last in rebounding last season but now sit 12th, as of Wednesday afternoon. However, lately the two haven’t been too consistent. In the last five games, Petty has one game where she grabbed more than four rebounds and Gray is 2-of-21 from beyond the arc in the same period. When the two are on their game though, they bring diverse skill sets to the starting lineup.
TDG: Cotie McMahon was definitely one of the top players in the conference a year ago and it seems her star status has faded a bit with players like Juju Watkins and Lauren Betts coming into the conference. Is she just flying under the radar more this season or did something happen to make her a little less efficient?
LGHL: McMahon is taking on more this year than previous seasons in Columbus. With Jacy Sheldon graduating, there was a hole left for an on the court leader and McMahon filled that role well. The junior isn’t afraid to say what she means on and off the court, even if that means telling hard truths about the team. On the court, McMahon isn’t getting as much attention as previous seasons because she isn’t only attacking the paint like she has in her first two years. Now, McMahon shoots from the perimeter and is improving at her turnaround midrange jumper. So, despite the highlights not being there like in previous seasons, McMahon is a more well-rounded player this campaign, showing improvements not only in shooting but her defending overall. Plus, she’s turning the ball over less, showing the maturation of her game. So, she may not get onto the Big Ten social media as much as Watkin’s moves or Betts dynamic play at the basket, but McMahon is on just about every midseason Player of the Year watch list.
TDG: Losing to the two Southern California teams is no surprise, but what happened to see the Buckeyes lose a game at a not very good Penn State team?
LGHL: That loss to Penn State was for two key reasons. First, not having the play of freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge. The No. 1 overall point guard in the 2024 class was out with illness, and of late the Buckeyes’ offense looks stagnant without Cambridge on the court.
The second reason was the Scarlet and Gray went into the game expecting to walk over the Nittany Lions and ran into a brick wall. Ohio State lacked grit and intensity, outside of McMahon and Gray who scored 19 and 18 points respectively. Coach McGuff’s side is too young, and still building chemistry together, and not at the place where they can take a game off, even against a team that didn’t have a conference win at that point.
On those losses in LA, the USC defeat was an overall bad game with nothing positive to speak of, but that UCLA game’s final score is misleading. The Buckeyes were tied with just over nine minutes remaining in the game, Betts only scored nine points in three quarters and Ohio State had every right to come away with a win with how they defended. It was a cold shooting spell that did them in.
Ohio State found open looks, had good shot selection, not perfect but still good, but kept clanging off the rim. The Buckeyes shot a season low 29.4 percent, oddly enough shooting the exact same efficiency against the Trojans in a game with poor shot selection. However, any sort of moral victory against UCLA was washed away going up against Kiki Iriafen and Watkins.
TDG: Where do you see Ohio State’s ceiling and their floor heading into the Big Ten Tournament and the NCAA tournament? They’re still ranked 9th in the country, but they don’t necessarily seem to be getting the same national attention as some of the other Big Ten schools.
LGHL: I think the Buckeyes get a top four seed for the Big Ten Tournament, winning five of their last six regular season games (with four at home). Then they make the semifinal of the conference tourney but then struggle against either UCLA, USC or Maryland.
For March Madness, the only thing that would shock me is if they make the Final Four. Now this is coming off a tough week of two losses, so the prognostication might be a little skewed, but the likeliest outcome is a second round exit at home. If the Buckeyes sweep the end of the regular season, my mind might change, but this team has been inconsistent and slow to start games before going to Los Angeles. That can be a kiss of death in the tournament, or a sign that the Buckeyes haven’t hit their peak yet this season and could become dangerous as the postseason approaches.
TDG: What does Minnesota need to be able to do to slow down the Buckeyes and be able to pull off the upset?
LGHL: Solid defense will slow down the Buckeyes, and hold onto the ball. Ohio State’s offense lives off turnovers, and teams who give the ball away a lot can get eaten up quickly. When outlets get taken away by opposing defenses, the Scarlet and Gray try to play iso and veer away from their halfcourt offensive strategy, and it rarely ends up well. Close down those outlets, and stay with Ohio State’s passing in the half court and Minnesota has a chance.
Minnesota has lost 13 straight to the Buckeyes. Their last win was in 2016 when the Gophers upset #5 Ohio State at The Barn. The game is set for a 6:30 PM tip and will stream on Peacock.