The Ohio State women’s basketball team huddles prior to the game against OU Nov. 17. Ohio State lost 68-74. Credit: Meghan Carroll | Lantern File Photo
Ohio State will face off against an unfamiliar foe in an unusual environment to open the 2020-21 season.
Ohio State’s women’s basketball team will tip off its season at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Schottenstein Center against the Akron Zips of the Mid-American Conference. The contest will mark the first matchup between the Buckeyes and Zips since 2000, when Ohio State won 100-35 at home.
“It’s been quite the offseason,” eighth-year head coach Kevin McGuff said Monday in a press conference. “I think our kids have done a great job, they’ve really handled this as well as you could ever expect young people. They’ve really committed a lot to this point.”
Ohio State finished the 2019-20 season with a 21-12 record and entered the Big Ten Conference tournament as the No. 6 seed. The Buckeyes won three games to propel themselves to their 11th conference finals game before losing 82-65 to top-seeded Maryland.
McGuff’s squad returns all five of its starters from last season, despite the head coach being noncommittal as to who will start on Wednesday.
“They’ve all played well,” McGuff said. “They put themselves in positions to be significant contributors again.”
Junior forward Dorka Juhasz was Ohio State’s leading scorer and rebounder a season ago. She said she took steps in the summer to improve her ability to do those things.
“I really focused on ball handling and ball security, being able to bring up the ball and do more perimeter stuff,” Juhasz said.
Plenty of experience surrounds Juhasz as well. Senior guard Braxtin Miller and junior forward Aaliyah Patty finished as the team leader in assists and second in rebounds, respectively.
McGuff said the Buckeyes will lean heavily on their experience when the season begins, highlighting the leadership of the upperclassmen.
“Braxtin Miller has done a great job,” McGuff said. “She has the most game experience of anybody in our program. She’s done a really good job helping the younger people and communicating.”
Sophomore guards Madison Greene and Jacy Sheldon round out the returning starters. Greene averaged 7.7 points per game and recorded Ohio State’s third-most assists while Sheldon recorded the team’s third-most minutes and 3-point percentage and finished second in steals.
McGuff said the team could stand to be more consistent defensively and do a better job rebounding. Ohio State allowed the seventh-most points per game in the Big Ten with 65.9 and brought in the fifth-fewest offensive rebounds with 11.0 per game.
“We’re going to be at our best when we really spread the ball around,” McGuff said. “The other thing we need to do is make sure we’re getting balance in what we do. We can get a little 3-point happy, so we got to make sure we’re getting the ball around the basket and scoring from the perimeter and the free-throw line.”
McGuff said he is confident that the Buckeyes can improve in needed areas, and a key reason for his belief is the chemistry throughout the roster.
“This group has been the best team we’ve had so far from a chemistry standpoint,” McGuff said. “This group is really tight-knit. They spend a lot of time off the court and I think their love and respect for each other, I’m hoping, is the difference-maker for us.”
Akron is led by third-year head coach Melissa Jackson, who guided the Zips to a 15-15 record and finished eighth in the MAC in terms of winning percentage. The Zips were picked to finish No. 10 in the MAC Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
The Zips will be led by senior forward Jordyn Dawson, who was voted to the preseason All-MAC Second Team. Dawson averaged 13.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game a season ago.
“We did the best we could in terms of watching film from last year,” McGuff said. “They’ve got a lot of different personnel, ran really good offense last year. I know we’ll have our hands full on Wednesday.”
