For the seventh time in program history, Ohio State women’s basketball featured a player on the Associated Press’ All-American team. This time, sophomore point guard Jaloni Cambridge landed on the prestigious award’s Second Team.
Cambridge led the Big Ten with 26.4 points per game on top of 5.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game, all above her season averages. The sophomore scored double-digit points in all 33 games this season and led the Buckeyes in points, minutes played and assists on the season.
The award is the biggest in a list of accolades handed out since the end of the Big Ten Tournament. The Athletic, ESPN, The Sporting News and the USBWA. Within the conference, Cambridge earned a spot on the First Team All-Big Ten for both coaches and media, her second season in a row on a conference team.
There is little argument that Ohio State would be a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament without the play of Cambridge. This season, the sophomore point guard added her name alongside program great Kelsey Mitchell in points scored and 30+ point games. On Jan. 7, 2026, Cambridge scored a career high 41 points against the Illinois Fighting Illini in a 78-69 victory that really kicked off a run of momentum for the Buckeyes that ran through the end of the season.
On the 2026 AP All-American First Team was a duo of UConn Huskies in guard Azzi Fudd and forward Sarah Strong. UCLA Bruins’ forward Lauren Betts was the lone Big Ten name on the First Team with two SEC players rounding out the starting five in Texas Longhorns forward Madison Booker and Vanderbilt Commodores guard Mikayla Blakes.
Alongside Cambridge on the second team is fellow speedy point guard Hannah Hidalgo from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards, Iowa State’s Audi Crooks and TCU’s Olivia Miles. On the third team was a pair of Big Ten guards in Michigan Wolverines’ Olivia Olson and UCLA’s Kiki Rice. Duke’s Toby Fournier, South Carolina’s Raven Johnson and LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson rounded out the three All-American teams.
Within Ohio State, Cambridge joined Jacy Sheldon (2024), Katie Smith (1996) and Samantha Prahalis (2012) as a one-time All-American. With two years left in Cambridge’s eligibility, she can possibly join Kelsey Mitchell, Jantel Lavender and Jessica Davenport as multi-year winners. In program history, only Mitchell earned the honor in all four seasons, while Lavender and Davenport each won in their final three seasons.
Ohio State is back on the court Saturday against the Howard Bison in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, in Columbus, Ohio. If the Buckeyes win and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeat the Fairfield Stags, it sets up an All-American vs. All-American matchup between Cambridge and Hidalgo. The guard already defeated Miles and the Horned Frogs this season, but a win over Notre Dame would give the Buckeyes their first Sweet Sixteen appearance since the 2023 Elite Eight run.
