On the Monday before the Christmas holiday, fans of No. 21 Ohio State women’s basketball will soon get their gift — the end to facing midmajor teams in the 2025-26 nonconference schedule.
The final 18 games
of the season include 17 Big Ten opponents, 10 currently ranked programs, and a Jan. trip to Newark, New Jersey to face the TCU Horned Frogs.
Before any of that, the Buckeyes have the Western Michigan Broncos of the Mid-American Conference on Monday at 6:30 p.m. ET at the Schottenstein Center. Ohio State’s last game before the No. 4 UCLA Bruins visit in six days.
How do the Buckeyes size up? Plus, T’Yana Todd’s growing comfort…
Ohio State’s Size
The Buckeyes 25-26 season began with two bigs and a three-guard system. Head coach Kevin McGuff used the roster breakdown in previous years, but injury derailed the idea. After three games, Ohio State center Elsa Lemmilä missed a game against the Kent State Golden Flashes to recover from leg pain and has not returned to the starting lineup.
That leaves guards Jaloni Cambridge, Kennedy Cambridge, T’Yana Todd and Chance Gray alongside redshirt freshman forward Kylee Kitts. It abandoned interior presence for speed around the perimeter and, in theory, an effective deep shooting group, but it leaves Kitts at a size disadvantage.
“I don’t really see it as pressure,” Kitts told reporeters. I see that like an advantage for me to just go out there and do what my team needs, which is a rebound and get a few points for us.“
There are no signs that the starting five ends soon. After Ohio State’s win over the Toledo Rockets, McGuff stressed that he can keep the four-guard system, even against UCLA who boasts 6’7” unanimous Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year Lauren Betts.
Since missing a game, Lemmilä looks more comfortable on the court, but it still does not equate to extra time on it. Lemmilä has 14 minutes in each of the last two games, although the center led the team with a +24 plus/minus.
Ohio State’s shooting struggled after the program returned from the Baha Mar Pink Flamingo Championship when the Buckeyes shot under 20% from beyond the arc. Thursday, McGuff’s side shot 29.6%, a marked improvement although not high enough to make up for a size disadvantage as the Buckeyes head towards conference play.
“Coach [McGuff] talked about it in post game today. We’re making shots in practice,” Todd said. “I think you just got to stay disciplined and apply it to the game.”
Monday’s opponent will not test the Buckeyes like the Bruins, but it means another game for a smaller group of Ohio State guards to continue shooting improvement and group chemistry.
T’Yana Todd’s Role
When the forerunner Boston College guard joined Ohio State, she was the reigning three-point shooting champion of the ACC at 45.9%. On top of that, since the transfer portal took over college sports, McGuff brought in upperclassmen reports before and they normally ended up in the starting lineup and never left. Then the first game of the season began and Todd was not in the starting lineup.
It took time, and an injury, to get Todd into the starting five. Even then, the guard played but still looked like someone adjusting to a new team.
Todd credits McGuff and the Buckeyes for improving who she is as a player, even though it is not necessarily showing on the stat sheet, but there are signs of improvement.
McGuff’s high pressure defense requires time to adjust and after 11 games, it looks like Todd is finding her way with the Buckeyes. Todd played over 20 minutes in three of the last four games and that is not only due to starting. In Todd’s first four games in the starting lineup, the guard averaged 16.5 minutes per game. In the last four, it’s up to 22.3 minutes per game.
Shooting is still taking time, but Todd went 3-of-6 against the Northwestern Wildcats. Todd also had two steals in that game and has five in Ohio State’s last four games. It is not what may have been expected in the transfer portal, but the guard is trending upwards.
Western Michigan Broncos
Monday is another game that has blowout potential. Western Michigan is 3-6 on the season and the Buckeyes are the MAC side’s third power conference opponent of the season, coincidentally all against Big Ten opponents.
Before Ohio State, Western Michigan fell 98-44 against the Michigan State Spartans and a more respectable 71-53 defeat to the Indiana Hoosiers.
After the game, Ohio State is off for Christmas, but return to the practice court on Friday, Dec. 26 to prepare for UCLA. While Monday does not look like a trap game, opponent-wise, there is likely a lot on the minds of Buckeye players.
