Questions surrounding Ohio State heading into game against Niagara

It was anyone’s guess on the identity of Ohio State women’s basketball at the end of October.

Head coach Kevin McGuff and players talked about the skillsets of the new, 11-player, roster. Athletes promised a fast lineup while McGuff assured those same fans that it would take some time before the team secured their identity and a young team of eight underclassmen.

Now, as the calendar flips to December, the Buckeyes foundation is well established, there are questions around guards not named Cambridge and it’s still a tossup on how Ohio State responds in conference play.

Cambridge Sisters

The Buckeyes were destined to belong to guards Jaloni Cambridge and Kennedy Cambridge the moment Jaloni committed Dec. 29, 2023. After all, there would be no Jacy Sheldon or Celeste Taylor on the roster two years after the No. 1 overall point guard picked Central Ohio to bring her game. The question was “how long would it take for it to happen?”

Last season, Jaloni Cambridge showed that the countdown would not be too long. From a game-winning 30 seconds against the Belmont Bruins to leading the Buckeyes as a freshman to a 16-point comeback against the Michigan Wolverines, the team shifted towards a Cambridge-led program.

November of 2025 cemented the fact that any success from this team will come from the foundation of Jaloni Cambridge.

In six games, Jaloni Cambridge averages 20.8 points per game, the fifth highest in the Big Ten. Jaloni Cambridge increased her offensive output and efficiency from two-point range. The guard’s midrange shot frustrates opponents and that shot itself is a product of the sophomore’s adjustment from a freshman who went to the basket consistently to a sophomore who chooses her battles.

Across the two games of the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship, a mini tournament that tested the Buckeyes for eight quarters, Jaloni Cambridge averaged 24 points. This time last year, Cambridge scored 16 points per game, but was also a facilitator for now Ole Miss forward Cotie McMahon. Those days are over. Jaloni Cambridge’s assist numbers are down from 4.9 to 2.8 in her first month of each season.

Jaloni Cambridge is at the forefront of the Buckeyes’ success on the court and off of it. The guard emotionally picks up her teammates and is a visible leader with her voice and actions. Ohio State has not seen yet how games will go when Jaloni Cambridge is stifled or off her game, because those moments have not happened over 40-minute games.

Older half-sister Kennedy Cambridge was more of an unknown, compared to the highly touted recruit Jaloni. The guard went redshirt in her first season, a conscious decision to play one more year alongside Jaloni, and then came off the bench as a redshirt sophomore.

Kennedy Cambridge’s showed defensive ability in small spurts, but this year Cambridge is the leading defender for the Buckeyes.

The older Cambridge leads the Big Ten with 3.8 steals per game, the 14th highest average in the NCAA. On top of that, assists, rebounds and points are up for the guard. The Cambridge sisters account for 51.3% of the team’s steals. Most success in the full-court points back to Jaloni and Kennedy Cambridge.

How will that continue throughout the rest of Ohio State’s 23 regular season games?

Non-Cambridge Guards

There is no surprise in who McGuff picks to start games in the other guard positions. Chance Gray and T’Yana Todd are both seniors who, when shots are falling, change the game for the Buckeyes. The only problem is that there has not been much of the consistent made shots for the pair.

Gray is having a renaissance, of sorts. After a frustrating first year in Columbus last season, the Cincinnati native is having her best scoring and three-point shooting season of her career. The biggest difference though for Gray from last season is how she facilitates the offense.

Although Gray is a shooting guard, Jaloni Cambridge, Gray and whoever else enters the game take turns getting their teammates involved in the offense. Gray has three assists per game, which matches her final season with the Oregon Ducks when Gray and now Michigan State forward Grace Vanslooten were the entirety of the Oregon offensive attack.

Expectations for Todd were high when the senior committed to Ohio State. With the Boston College Eagles, Todd led the ACC with 45.9% shooting from the floor.

Todd’s play at Ohio State has yet to come close to that mark.

In six games, Todd averages 7.7 points in 18.2 minutes per game. Todd’s deep shooting efficiency dropped to 31.6%, the lowest since Todd was a freshman.

Initially, Todd came into games for McGuff from the bench, but moved into a starting spot when center Elsa Lemmilä left the starting lineup to continue recovering from two offseason surgeries. However, starting does not mean getting more minutes.

Against the Belmont Bruins and West Virginia Mountaineers, Todd played 14 and 11 minutes respectively. The likely contributor to this drop is the continued adjustment for Todd on both sides of the ball. Todd’s career season last year came in her third year in the same system for Boston College. It will take time for Todd to adjust, and in the meantime there are other guards off the bench who are starting to take those vacated minutes.

Ava Watson and Bryn Martin have each come on strong of late for McGuff. Especially at the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship.

Martin brought a third strong defender to the roster against the Bruins. The freshman had three steals, closed down multiple shots that came out of the full-court press zone and played 25 minutes, her most of the season. Against West Virginia, Martin fouled out but not before bringing that same defensive intensity and a career high 16 points in the guard’s sixth NCAA appearance.

The sophomore Watson came in last season and tried to establish herself with deep shooting. This season, Watson had come in and brought more to the defensive side of the court.

In 21 minutes, Watson had four steals and four assists, which included a late steal and assist in the final two minutes. Those moments and four free throws to help cut the seven-point West Virginia lead showed the potential if Watson received more minutes.

Starting ultimately doesn’t matter when McGuff will change his lineup early and often, sometimes after a glaring mistake. How those minutes get split will be interesting not only on Sunday, in what looks like an Ohio State rout against Niagara, but as the games get more difficult in December against the likes of UCLA.

Big Ten Approaches

Niagara versus Ohio State tips off Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET, in Columbus. One week and one hour later, the Buckeyes are in Evanston, Illinois to face the Northwestern Wildcats. It is the first conference game before five more non-conference games in December.

So far, the Buckeyes are getting strong play from their playmakers. Not mentioned but deserving of attention is redshirt freshman forward Kylee Kitts. The No. 25 prospect who moved up her eligibility a year and was subsequently benched in Florida is showing her place in power conference basketball with Ohio State.

In six games, Kitts scored 8.0 points and grabbed 7.3 rebounds per game. Kitts blends size, speed and athleticism in a tough to guard combination that will improve as the stakes increase.

Lemmilä, who started the season slow, showed calm and attentive play over the two games in the Bahamas. It showed a return to form to season one as the big continues to recover from a knee and foot injury. A late block under foul trouble and a midrange shot that gave Ohio State a late lead on Wednesday is an example of the future potential McGuff put on Lemmilä last season when she was labeled a future star.

How will all of it look as the games get more difficult?

Sunday will not be a good example of it. Niagara has three losses by at least 30 points and only two games where they lost by less than 20 points in their 0-6 record.

Regardless, it all goes into the bank of experience for the young Buckeyes. What Ohio State does with that experience, and how they withdraw it in the 18-game conference schedule, is up to them.