Senior guard Taylor Mikesell (24) looks for her teammates during the No. 13 Ohio State-No. 2 Indiana game Monday. Ohio State lost 83-59. Credit: Christian Harsa | Managing Editor for Digital Content
With only two games left in the regular season, the No. 13 Buckeyes travel north to face No. 12 Michigan in a rematch that will have even more implications regarding their postseason seeding.
A win against Michigan (20-6, 10-5 Big Ten) secures a top-four finish for the Buckeyes (22-5, 11-5 Big Ten) in the conference and a double bye into the third round of the conference tournament, while a loss could possibly push Ohio State into the first two rounds of the tournament.
Head coach Kevin McGuff said although there are heavy implications in Monday’s game for the postseason, the team is focused on embracing the opportunity to compete in one of the biggest rivalries in college sports.
“It’s always a big game,” McGuff said. “We’re kind of just focused on the matchup and the opportunity that we have.”
Ohio State comes off a bounce back road win against Penn State Wednesday night. Freshman guard Cotie McMahon continued her impressive stretch, as she earned her first career double-double with 17 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.
Redshirt junior guard Rikki Harris finished with a near triple-double, chipping in with 15 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Harris and sophomore guard Taylor Thierry were the only Buckeyes to finish with double-figures, as Ohio State’s top-scorer senior guard Taylor Mikesell was held to nine points on 3-of-12 shooting.
Mikesell has scored below her season average 17.4 points per game in all five of the Buckeyes’ losses this season, with four of those coming against top-25 teams. And with senior guard Jacy Sheldon’s status being day-to-day after nursing a foot injury since Nov. 20, 2022, teams have shifted their focus on the shifty Mikesell who’s second in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting, averaging 3.1 triples per game.
Mikesell scored 16 points on 4-of-16 shooting in the earlier matchup versus Michigan Dec. 31, 2022. Six of her points came at the free throw line, going a perfect 6-of-6 as the Buckeyes pulled out a 66-57 win at the Covelli Center.
McGuff said the coaching staff is adjusting to give Mikesell more open looks, but it is ultimately up to her teammates to step up and make shots when given the opportunity.
“For example, Rikki Harris played really well against Penn State,” McGuff said. “I think the more that stuff happens, the more they have to be balanced more defensively, not just focused on Taylor so much, and it will help everybody.”
Mikesell will play a key role if the Buckeyes look to pull out a win against another top-ranked team, but this time in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
And unfortunately, injuries have plagued both teams.
Michigan’s second-leading scorer sophomore guard Laila Phelia has been out since Jan. 29 after suffering a lower body injury against Minnesota. Despite her absence, the Wolverines seemed to have no worries after going on a four-game winning stretch, up until Thursday night.
The Wolverines fell 68-52 against the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall. After being down by 14 points entering halftime, the lack of offensive scoring hurt Michigan as it scored only nine points compared to Indiana’s 19 in the third quarter.
This game mirrored the previous New Year’s Eve matchup, in which Ohio State outscored Michigan 20-14 in the third quarter and withstood the Wolverines’ fourth-quarter push. Wolverines fifth-year guard Leigha Brown, who leads the Wolverines with 17.5 points and 5.8 assists per game, scored only eight points but dished out a team-high 10 assists.
The Wolverines shot 37 percent from the field and turned the ball over 27 times in the previous matchup against the Buckeyes. McGuff said Michigan has grown since then and has not turned the ball over as much during the 8-4 stretch since facing the Buckeyes New Year’s Eve.
“The first time they played us, they turned it over more than they normally do,” McGuff said. “I think they’ve kind of evolved a little bit offensively and been a little bit more efficient.”
The Wolverines currently sit one spot above the Buckeyes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll and a spot below them in the Big Ten Conference standings. A win for the Buckeyes would secure them a ticket to a top-four finish in the conference while a loss could possibly push the Buckeyes into the Big Ten Tournament sooner than expected.
McGuff said the team looks to keep its rhythm as the Buckeyes head up to Ann Arbor and over the next couple of weeks for postseason preparation.
“We’re really talking about just trying to have more consistency down the stretch,” McGuff said. “Take some of those really good stretches from Penn State and try to have more towards 40 minutes than what we were in that game.”
Tipoff between the Buckeyes and Wolverines is set for 7 p.m. Monday, and the game will broadcast on FS1.
