At practices for No. 12 Ohio State women’s basketball, coaches use a whiteboard with rows of player initials. Each row is used to identify groups of players from the starters all the way down to the end of the bench. When guard Ava Watson walked into practice this week, her name was among the starting five for the first time in the sophomore’s collegiate career.
In 44 previous appearances before Thursday’s 81-67 win over the Indiana Hoosiers, Watson has played different roles. Last year, she primarily
served as a guard who set up shop in the corner of the court, waiting for an opportunity to shoot a three. This year, she has assumed the role of the team’s backup point guard. Over her year and a half in Columbus, Watson’s impact increased and culminated in a historic moment in the young guard’s career. When Watson saw her name on the board, was there emotion? Maybe excitement or pride in a job well done?
“It wasn’t really nothing,” Watson told reporters with a chuckle. “I don’t know.”
Off the court, Watson is unfazed. The sophomore from Buford, Georgia, is the epitome of “go with the flow,” or as teammate and fellow guard Kennedy Cambridge called her, the “nonchalant queen.”
On the court, it is a different story. Back on Nov. 26, 2025 Against the then No. 21-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers, Watson played nine minutes of the fourth quarter, and most of that time as the point guard when teammate Jaloni Cambridge fouled out. Despite four players leaving the game due to fouls for the Buckeyes, Watson had 4 points, 3 steals, 2 assists, and 0 turnovers in the 83-81 comeback victory.
Against the No. 9 TCU Horned Frogs on Monday, Watson came off the bench to play arguably the toughest job of the day — guarding two-time All-American guard Olivia Miles. The sophomore helped hold Miles to 2-for-7 shooting in the second quarter.
Monday was a different situation, role, and opponent. There was no ranking in front of the Hoosiers’ name, just the opposite. Indiana entered 0-7 in Big Ten play but featured guards Shay Ciezki and Lenée Beaumont, who can turn a game around with their deep shooting prowess. Head coach Teri Moren’s side showed it in the first quarter when the Hoosiers jumped out to a 15-point lead in under six game minutes.
When the times looked tough for the Buckeyes, Watson was there to bring the game down to her level of nonchalant, in the most Ohio State way possible, when the guard hit a three-point shot and had three steals, part of a 13-point run that put the Buckeyes back into the game. It was an immediate validation of head coach Kevin McGuff’s decision to go with the sophomore, despite senior T’Yana Todd’s having already started nine games this season.
“I thought Ava’s [Watson] coming off a really good performance against TCU, and so that was kind of fresh in my mind,” McGuff told reporters. “The next part is, if we have to play a little smaller, our press needs to be a part of that. Ava is really good in that you can see tonight.”
“Really good” was a six-steal night, a career high in Big Ten play for the guard. In the second half, when Indiana had 15 of its 26 turnovers, Watson’s speed on the court alongside established defenders like Kennedy Cambridge and guard Jaloni Cambridge was tough to get around. In the final 20 minutes, Indiana only got off 15 shots compared to 32 for Ohio State. If the Hoosiers did not turn it over in the run of play, there were shot clock violations because the visitors had trouble getting around either the half-court or full-court Ohio State pressure.
Offensively, Watson contributed 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting, including hitting both of the three-point attempts she took. Watson was also the only starter for either side to not turn the ball over once. That led to a game-high +20 plus/minus, which measures a player’s impact on the score when they are on the court.
What does not show up in the scoresheet is the guard’s creativity with the ball. The Buckeyes’ 48.4% shooting included misses where Watson found open teammates who did not convert. A point guard in high school, Watson went to the basket and kicked out to players when the defense collapsed. If shooting improved, especially the 35.3% first quarter, Watson’s two assists would be more too.
Watson was not good — she was critical.
“She’s [Watson] very important to our team, whether she starts, whether she comes off the bench,” Kennedy Cambridge said. “Without her, we probably wouldn’t have won.”
The addition of Watson to the lineup was out of necessity. Ohio State lost forward Kylee Kitts after she sustained a shoulder injury on Monday against the Horned Frogs. Thursday’s matchup against a smaller Indiana side allowed the Buckeyes to get away with the smaller lineup. Even though that meant the Hoosiers out-rebounded the Buckeyes 30-21, getting boards is not the only way a team earns possessions, which Watson showed defensively. If plays did not end with a Watson steal, she helped teammates with her pace and intensity.
“I was just thinking, ‘Have a great start for myself and bring energy for the team and my teammates around me on the court,’” Watson said.
Ohio State fed off Watson’s energy, the same performance the Buckeyes need for Sunday’s trip to Iowa City to face the No. 10 Iowa Hawkeyes.
