The NCAA Tournament starts this week for Ohio State women’s basketball. For the fourth season in a row, March Madness starts in Columbus with the Buckeyes set to host the first two rounds of the tournament, at the Schottenstein Center. It begins with a matchup against MEAC tournament champions Howard.
Howard and Ohio State have four previous matchups, with the Buckeyes winning all four. The Bison won both the regular season and MEAC Tournament, with the latter getting the side into the NCAA Tournament.
This is the seventh time Howard made it into the tournament, with each of the previous six trips ending with defeats in the first round.
Should the Buckeyes win the first game of the tournament, they will face the winner of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Fairfield Stag. Fairfield made the tournament via the MAAC Tournament, although the Stag did surprise people when they entered the Associated Press poll at No. 25 on March 2, for one week. It is the second time Fairfield ever received a ranking.
Notre Dame entered as an at-large. Led by All-American point guard Hannah Hidalgo, the side adjusted to losing guard Olivia Miles to the transfer portal, ending up with the TCU Horned Frogs. Should seeds hold true, the Fighting Irish beat Ohio State in four of their five meetings, with the last coming in the 2017 NCAA Tournament when Notre Dame defeated McGuff and the Buckeyes 99-76.
Ohio State has not taken advantage of home court advantage over the last two NCAA Tournaments. In 2024, the Buckeyes went up 10 points against the Duke Blue Devils in the second round only to get outscored 65-43 in the final three quarters. The No. 2 seed Ohio State side fell 75-63.
Then, in 2025 it was the Tennessee Volunteers where the SEC side’s combination of size and speed overtook the Buckeyes to win 82-67. In the fourth quarter of that game, Ohio State fizzled with only eight points in the last game in scarlet and gray for now Ole Miss forward Cotie McMahon and now WNBA professional forward Taylor Thierry.
Guards Jaloni Cambridge and Chance Gray are the only returning Buckeyes from last year’s starting lineup, with guards Ava Watson, Kennedy Cambridge and center Elsa Lemmilä on the bench in the defeat. After the loss to the UCLA Bruins in the Big Ten Tournament, Gray told The Columbus Dispatch that the team needed to get out of Columbus. For Gray, it is her last chance to play in a Sweet Sixteen or beyond as Ohio State’s lone starting senior.
Head coach Kevin McGuff’s side made it out of the Second Round in four of his eight trips to the NCAA Tournament with the Buckeyes and twice in the last four seasons. Ohio State has not made it out of the Elite Eight since 1993 when assistant coach Katie Smith was a freshman with the Buckeyes.
