Ohio State women’s basketball guard Kennedy Cambridge was not alive when ESPN debuted its first ever top-1o plays countdown in the 1990s, but the guard seemed destined to make plays worth placement into one of the most famous lists in sports. On Sunday, against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Cambridge put together another performance that sticks out on the stat sheet (12 points, 8 rebounds, 7 steals, 3 assists, and 1 block) and represents how important the redshirt junior is to any success for the Buckeyes.
However, sometimes the numbers do not tell the whole story. The plays Cambridge made to create those figures deserve their own attention.
Embedded video links are specific clips from the game to show the described play.
Interception to assist
Kennedy Cambridge spent a good chunk of the first quarter on the floor, including the play above. Even though the guard is not near the ball, Kennedy Cambridge stays with her assignment while simultaneously watching where the ball is headed. Ohio State’s half court defense made guard Callin Hake take time with her decision where to pass it and as the guard began to pass, Kennedy Cambridge read it, headed to Hake’s intended target and intercepted the pass. At the same time, the Buckeye went to the ground from the collision but held her composure and kept dribbling.
Nebraska got back on defense quickly, expecting the Buckeyes to earn their fair share of fast break opportunities in the matchup. Kennedy Cambridge did not hand the ball off to a teammate. Instead, the redshirt junior ran into the Cornhuskers’ zone, drew in defenders and found guard Chance Gray for her second three-point shot of the quarter.
It is the first example of Kennedy Cambridge’s personality of all-out effort in a game with many examples. To add celebration to the moment, watch Cambridge after she passes to Gray and turns around to head back on defense. The guard holds up three fingers, knowing that her teammate would hit the shot.
The out of bounds leap
The Buckeyes had a nine-point lead late in the first quarter but the theme of the night for Nebraska was mounting comebacks. Big Red’s first attempt flipped that deficit into a one-point lead after the Cornhuskers scored 11 points from the end of the first and through the start of the second.
Ohio State responded but the game stayed at one possession until Kennedy Cambridge turned an airball three attempt by her younger sister Jaloni Cambridge into a wide open midrange jumper, thanks to a healthy dose of hustle.
Normally in basketball games, when the ball is soaring out of bounds, players regroup and prepare for the next possession, but not Kennedy Cambridge. As the ball floated over the baseline, Kennedy Cambridge sprinted, jumped and threw a behind the back bounce pass back into play. The ball stayed inbounds with an inch or two to spare and into the hands of Gray again, while the other players on the court could only stand there and watch in wonderment.
“Honestly, sometimes I don’t get them, but it went high enough and I knew that if I can get it in, maybe my teammates will make another play on the game,” Kennedy Cambridge told reporters. “I mean, it’s nothing, it’s effort. I mean, they can’t really be coached. But I wanted the ball, so I went to go get it.”
It was a moment of tunnel vision for the guard. Younger sister and fellow guard Jaloni Cambridge proved it after the game. Sitting next to Kennedy, Jaloni asked if she heard her yell “short! short!” on the three-point attempt, wondering if it was one of the reasons Kennedy went for the ball. The older Cambridge did not hear it and she focused solely on getting the ball.
That kind of hustle play did not only benefit Ohio State in the short term when it began a 14-9 Buckeye run to end the first half but effort like that impacts other players on the court.
“We do feed off of her [Kennedy Cambridge] energy at times,” head coach Kevin McGuff told reporters. “And it’s kind of cool to see, because that’s what you want, is you want people feeding off hustle plays like that.”
The spin move
It is not all defense for the guard from Tennessee. In the third quarter, Kennedy Cambridge made a play that reminded fans that dramatic moves do not only come when the guard does not have the ball, and elicited a strong response from those same Buckeye faithful.
Even though Jaloni Cambridge was on the court, the one who usually orchestrates half court runs to the basket, Kennedy Cambridge watched the defense and exploited a hole in a whimsical way.
Center Elsa Lemmilä set a screen that put both two Nebraska players on their back heels. That, and Nebraska players standing around waiting for another player to jump in, gave Kennedy Cambridge the opportunity to go one-on-one with someone trying to get their bearings. Kennedy Cambridge used guard Logan Nissley as support as the Ohio State guard spun against Nissley, lost the Cornhusker guard and went unimpeded to the basket.
The final stretch
For the times that Kennedy Cambridge pulls off moves like she did above, there are numerous other occasions where the redshirt junior throws her body in the fold to see what happens, and to hear a whistle. Land-Grant Holy Land highlighted that impact after Ohio State’s loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes and just how much it lifts up the Buckeyes’ offense.
Kennedy Cambridge had moments like that again on Sunday against Nebraska. The above play features another half court display of offense where the guard went one-on-one with forward Amiah Hargrove. On the film, Kennedy Cambridge did get away with a push with her forearm, but when the guard got the space to hit a layup, she instead brought the ball further down than necessary before going up for the basket, which drew the contact and a trip to the free throw line.
It was the only free throw that Kennedy Cambridge took in the game but she made it, which gave Ohio State its largest lead of the game at 20 points. What happened next did not include Kennedy Cambridge but tells the story of the guard’s impact in the Big Ten victory on Sunday night.
With the game firmly in Ohio State’s hands, McGuff put Kennedy Cambridge on the bench for the final 3:27 of the third quarter. After all, the junior helped in the third quarter with five points and three steals, which gave the Buckeyes a 23-11 scoring advantage to start the second half.
When Kennedy Cambridge went to the bench, Nebraska outscored the Buckeyes 14-2. After the Cornhuskers hit a three-point shot to start the fourth quarter, the visitors were down only seven points. When Kennedy Cambridge was on the bench, the Cornhuskers out-hustled the Buckeyes.
Nebraska head coach Amy Williams called a timeout with 7:30 remaining in the game because Ohio State tried to get a jump ball call with a Cornhusker on the ground, fighting to keep possession. Big Red cut the once 20-point lead down to four points at that moment.
“We got very lackadaisical defensively. We didn’t rebound,” McGuff said. “They got two rebounds off of free throws, which is unexcusable. We didn’t get any loose balls. They were getting all the 50/50, balls. And so, you know, really just would use the word complacency set in, and we allowed it to.”
That timeout charged to Nebraska benefited Ohio State and when the Buckeyes needed hustle, they got Kennedy Cambridge. The guard only had one basket in the quarter, and that came after the home side stretched its lead back out to double-digits, but immediately out of that pause in play, Kennedy Cambridge grabbed the first of three rebounds in the quarter. Each defensive rebound turned into points on the offensive side of the court and Ohio State won with a comfortable 19-point deficit.
Basketball is a team game built on individual performances and Kennedy Cambridge brought an entire highlight reel of personal moments to Sunday’s Ohio State victory. If more stats are needed to support the guard’s importance for the Buckeyes, Kennedy Cambridge also led all players with a +25 plus/minus.
