Sunday begins the home stretch for Ohio State women’s basketball. In February, the Buckeyes play seven of their remaining eight Big Ten teams, and all of them come against Quad 1 teams, the highest tier of opponent in the NCAA’s NET rankings.
That stretch begins at home against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Like Ohio State, the Cornhuskers are a side adjusting to the loss of an important inside player and led by a dynamic and high-scoring sophomore point guard. On paper, it is an even matchup, strength-wise.
To learn more, Land-Grant Holy Land reached out to our SB Nation friends Corn Nation. Women’s basketball beat writer Jaden Miller discussed Nebraska’s Britt Prince, filling in for Natalie Potts, and how the Cornhuskers can leave Columbus this weekend with an upset victory.
Land-Grant Holy Land: Nebraska had the combination of guard Britt Prince and forward Natalie Potts to lead them for the next few seasons, but Potts’ knee injury changed all that. The news of the week for Nebraska is that Potts is now taking a redshirt. Who is filling the void inside for the Cornhuskers this season?
Corn Nation: Some very sad news coming mid-week for sure with the reveal that Natalie Potts is taking the medical redshirt. Not all that surprising though, since the original timeline was the start of conference play and Amy Williams was constantly saying she wasn’t a full go in practices. If you’re a fan of sports in general, the Prince/Potts duo was some of the most exciting basketball to watch as their chemistry really seemed to be connecting immediately.
You can’t just replace Natalie Potts because what she contributes offensively, she equally impacts defensively. There are a couple of players who were supposed to help fill the void, and then a couple of players who, in my opinion, are doing a better job at filling it.
Who was supposed to help fill it originally? Jessica Petrie and Petra Bozan. Both were playing outstanding basketball toward the end of last season, but have not been what I expected them to be so far. Petrie has been the far better option as she averages 11.9 points per game and grabs 5.0 rebounds as well; however, all of that comes very inconsistently. She has some of the best footwork and can displace just about anyone down low, but her finishing is where she struggles. I can’t tell you how many times in a game I’ll yell, “Great move!” and then immediately behind it follows “BUT YOU HAVE TO FINISH!”
Petra, on the other hand, is someone I thought was going to make huge strides in the offseason, but has not done that, and I’ve been quite disappointed by her production if I’m being honest. Where I see Bozan struggle the most is defensively; she just isn’t strong enough inside the paint and pretty much gets bullied around, and if it’s not that, then it’s fouling at an incredibly ridiculous rate. Both things are obviously not great if you want to get extended minutes and make an impact on the floor.
Who has been doing a better job at filling it? Amiah Hargrove and Eliza Maupin. Every single game, I see these two improve more and more, and it’s one of the only things that keeps me from absolutely spiraling about a season that I envisioned looking much different. Hargrove has taken massive leaps in her sophomore season, averaging 12.3 points per game and snatching up 6.0 rebounds per game. Where I’ve seen the most improvement with her is her defense; she’s just a bit more sound inside and can hold her ground a bit better against some of the more physical bigs in the Big Ten.
Maupin has been such a blessing this year. I see her confidence grow in every game she plays, and I think that will only help Nebraska as the year continues. She’s not going to always be a high scorer, but she contributes with her rebounding and blocking at a high level. The one thing I would like to see her clean up is her fouling. There have been so many times where she goes flying into a play unnecessarily and picks up a dumb foul that could have been avoided, but that’s also the competitor in her.
LGHL: Britt Prince had a standout senior season and is now the established No. 1 scorer for the Cornhuskers. How has the guard grown in year two in Lincoln?
CN: I could talk about Britt Prince and the things she does right forever, but the one thing I want to point out is her leadership. She is fairly reserved and isn’t going to be the main vocal leader, but she leads by example. She makes everyone around her better, and that is someone you want on your team. Prince averages 18.4 points a gam,e and even with a quiet game scoring, she has the ability to be lethal in multiple other ways, whether that’s with her rebounding, setting her teammates up, or causing havoc defensively.
Prince has been more aggressive in looking for her own shot this year. She’s very unselfish when it comes to scoring, constantly looking to get her teammates involved, so I’ve really enjoyed seeing her hunt for some of her own shots more this year. An area she was already dangerous in and, in my opinion, has just excelled at, is her mid-range game.
The mid-range is such a lost art, but Prince really values that part of her game, and I think that is also what sets her apart from a lot of players. Also, I will plug in an achievement for my Husker, if you don’t mind. Britt Prince is the only D1 starter at 50-50-90. If some readers aren’t aware of what that is, it’s when a player is shooting 50% from the field, 50% from three, and 90% from the free-throw line.
LGHL: So far this season, Nebraska has struggled against ranked teams and recently went through a three-game losing streak. Now, though, the Cornhuskers come to Columbus on a two-game winning streak, which included an impressive win over Illinois. How have the Cornhuskers recovered from a rough stretch?
CN: I think the main thing is going back to the basics and refocusing. It’s the rebounds, turnovers, close shots, doing all the right things in the right moments. After that really tough Wisconsin loss, I was interested to see how they would come out against Illinois because, to be honest, it would have been so easy to roll over and die and scrap the season. I mean, that’s how that loss made me feel; it was embarrassing to say the least. Even the losses to ranked opponents USC and Iowa, Nebraska was a couple plays away from winning those games, but unfortunately, we just have a knack for shooting ourselves in the foot when it matters most.
The Huskers know that they’re better than the product they have been putting on the floor as of late, and I think you could really see that change in the Illinois game. Despite getting outrebounded, they did a bunch of other little things right to be able to put that game away, which is something we haven’t been able to do. So to answer your question in kind of a weird roundabout way, the answer is “the little things”. It’s knowing that you’re going to get punched in the mouth a couple of times, but how do you respond?
You outwork them, you make the right plays, you limit second chance points, you take good shots. There were a lot of little things we needed to clean up to get some of those wins, and they need to continue in order to keep stacking some more wins.
LGHL: What do you think the Cornhuskers have to do well to pull off the upset against the ranked Buckeyes?
CN: Now, Thomas, I was hoping you wouldn’t ask this question because there’s a lot that has to go right for Nebraska. First thing is to limit the turnovers; the Buckeyes turn their opponents over an average of 23.1 times a game. They carry a +9.9 turnover margin, which means they don’t turn the ball over very much. This worries me because Nebraska doesn’t handle pressure the best, and we do try to force passes into places where they shouldn’t go.
The second thing is to try to slow Jaloni Cambridge down. I know you’ve seen her play; not many teams (if any) have been able to achieve this. I would expect Nebraska to throw a few different players at her; Britt Prince, Callin Hake, even Kennadi Williams are a few that come to mind. UCLA, which has one of the best defenses in the country, still allowed her 28 points. I’m not overly confident that we’re going to be able to shut her down, but if they can stop the bleeding a tad, it might help.
Lastly, rebounding and the three-ball are going to be imperative for the Huskers. Nebraska cannot give up a handful of offensive rebounds that lead to second-chance points for the Buckeyes. Not only would that drive me insane, but it’s a recipe for disaster. Getting inside the paint and scoring is one thing, but if the three pointers aren’t falling for Nebraska, it’s going to be a long game. I have said this for years: if the Huskers can knock down 7 or 8 threes, they give themselves a very good chance to come away with a win.
