Twas three nights before Christmas and No. 19 Ohio State women’s basketball welcomed the Western Michigan Broncos. The Mid-American Conference program ended the Buckeye nonconference slate for the 2025-26
season and Ohio State was not looking ahead to presents. Instead, the Buckeyes bigs, with 29 points between Kylee Kitts and Elsa Lemmilä sent the Broncos home with a lump of coal and a 95-47 defeat.
First quarter
There was no first quarter surge from the midmajor MAC side, but the Broncos identified an Ohio State weakness to keep the game within double-digits until the final 1:30 of the quarter. Western Michigan parked in the corner of the arc and waited for an extra pass to expose the Buckeyes’ halfcourt zone defense.
The Broncos took mainly open looks from the corners and if they made more of them it could have been an interesting start to the game. Instead, Western Michigan went 3-of-10 in the first 10 minutes, but it was a clear strategy for the side from up north after 10 of its 21 first quarter attempts came from deep.
Second quarter
Western Michigan’s game plan continued into the second but Ohio State made adjustments on defense and began to run the score up, for possibly the last time this season with Big Ten play picking up again on Sunday. Buckeye defenders closed down shooters and held the Broncos to 25% shooting from the floor, and 22.2% from beyond the arc with only two made shots from deep.
On the other side of the court, the Buckeyes leveraged their size. In the last four games, Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff went between center Elsa Lemmilä and forward Ella Hobbs for first half minutes. Monday, McGuff went with Lemmilä only and the big rewarded the Buckeyes with eight points in the second quarter on perfect 3-of-3 shooting inside. At halftime, Lemmilä already had a season high 12 points with 20 minutes remaining.
Ohio State had 16 points in the paint in the second quarter and outscored the Broncos in the first half 32-8 overall.
Third quarter
The visitors tried to catch the Buckeyes off guard in the second half when the first five shots all came inside the arc. Western Michigan tried to go inside and was successful and hit its first two baskets. It gave the Broncos four of the first six points of the quarter. The Buckeyes quickly erased it with an 18-point run to put the lead at a comfortable 44 points.
Fourth quarter
After Ohio State held the Broncos to nine points in the third quarter and a nearly 50-point lead, McGuff brought in a group of five bench players to ride the game out for the Buckeyes. Forward Ella Hobbs hit a three-point shot, which got her entire team on the bench off their feet. It is the fifth of the season for the redshirt freshman.
In terms of late game drama, it all came off the court. With 2:10 remaining, the lights went off on the court. The Ohio State production team made the most of it by lowering all lights and fans turned on their phone flashlights to Christmas music. The partial blackout did not last longer than a couple minutes.
Number of the game: 55.3
That is the shooting percentage of the Buckeyes. It is only the second time this season that Ohio State hit at least 50% in a game. The other came against the Niagara Purple Eagles in the atrocious 130-32 victory. Three-point shooting-wise, Ohio State went 5-of-22 from the floor for a 22.7% night from deep.
Key performers
Ohio State
- Kylee Kitts: 14 points, 9 rebounds
- Elsa Lemmilä: 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks
Western Michigan
- Alli Carlson: 15 points
- D’Myjah Bolds: 8 points, 8 rebounds
Up Next
Ohio State is off from games until Sunday when the No. 4 UCLA Bruins descend on the Schottenstein Center. Behind 6’7” center Lauren Betts, the Bruins enter Sunday’s trip east with an 11-1 record, with its only defeat against the No. 2 Texas Longhorns.
The Buckeyes lost the last three matchups against UCLA in the last two seasons. On Feb. 5, 2025 in Los Angeles, California, Ohio State competed early but UCLA ran away with a 65-52 victory. Then, in the Big Ten Tournament, it was even worse for the Buckeyes when the Bruins won 75-46 in the tournament semifinal.
