The Ohio State Women’s Basketball Team
Game Notes
By: Fallon Perl
- The Buckeyes are second in the country in scoring at 94.0 and have topped the century mark in two of the last three games.
- Coach Kevin McGuff led his team to postseason play in 14 of his 15 seasons.
- Stephanie Mavunga and Linnae Harper are the only pair of teammates to each have at least four double-doubles this season. Mavunga has notched five and Harper four.
- Kelsey Mitchell was named the national Player of the Week by ESPNW and CollegeSportsMadness.com as well as the Big Ten Player of the Week on Nov. 27.
- Ohio State has won 15 Big Ten championship, which is tops in the conference. No other team in the conference has won more than nine.
By: Chantel Ray
- Stephanie Mavunga set the OSU single-game record by grabbing 26 rebounds in the season-opening win over No. 10 Stanford on Nov. 10.
- Head coach Kevin McGuff notched his 100th win as Buckeye head coach on Nov. 23.
- Last Thursday’s game against Duke will be just the second all-time meeting between the two programs in the Big Ten/ ACC Challenge.
- Sierra Calhoun, Stephanie Mavunga, and Linnae Harper are all familiar from when they played Nov. 30 on the campus At Duke, while Calhoun began her collegiate career there.
- Ohio State is looking to reverse its trend in recent Big Ten/ACC Challenge games as the Buckeyes are just 2–8 in the first 10 years of the challenge.
By: Anthony DeCarlo
- Mavunga is picking up an average of five offensive rebounds per game. This leads the conference, and she is grabbing an average of 11.8 total rebounds per game, which is second best in the conference.
- Asia Doss is third in the Big Ten with an assist to turnover ration sitting at a 3.3. She has also managed to pick up four steals in two of the Buckeyes last three games.
- Kelsey Mitchell is only 19 points away from tying the OSU career record of Jantel Lavender for most points in OSU history. Lavender had scored 2,818 points in her career from the years 2008 through 2011.
- OSU averages 10.1 three-point field goal a game which puts them at the top of the conference.
- Linnae Harper is averaging 15.6 points and 9.9 rebounds per games this year, which has already topped her previous career averages coming into the season of 9.0 points and 4.9 rebounds.
By: Niall Logue
- Alexa Hart scored 10 points and in the process, notched her 1,000th career point against Memphis.
- This is the fourth time Kelsey Mitchell has been named the national player of the week and her ninth time earning the weekend Big Ten honor.
- Kelsey Mitchell scored a season-high 34 points and became the NCAA’s DI all-time three-point leader as the Buckeyes rolled to a 104–62 victory over Florida Gulf Coast.
- Senior Asia Doss was the fourth Buckeye in double-figures, with 10 points and a career-high eight assists with zero turnovers.
- Ohio State is riding a six-game win streak after winning the Play4Kay Showcase, which was held from Nov. 23–25.
By: Isaac Miller
- In the 2015–2016, the team topped the 90-point mark 14 times during the regular season.
- Redshirt Sophomore Sierra Calhoun was one of two players on the 2016–2017 squad to start all 35 games.
- As a freshman, Asia Doss had the best assist/turnover ratio on the team, with 100 assists and just 47 turnovers.
- As a junior in 2016–2017, Alexa Hart shot an astounding 55% from the field.
- In his first year as an assistant at OSU in 2013, Mike Mitchell helped mentor Ameryst Alston to become first team All Big 10 honors, creating one of the strongest defensive backcourts in the nation.
By: DeVaughn Blair
- Mavunga has at least one blocked shot in 8 out of the 9 games this season.
- The Buckeyes scored over 100 points in the first two games of the Play4Kay tournament, the first time in history they have scored over 100 in consecutive games.
- The Buckeyes have made at least one three-pointer in 154 straight games. During that streak, they have hit 10 or more threes in 33 games.
- The team played two AP Top 10 teams in the first three days of the season, going 1–1 against them.
- Coach McGuff set the school record for wins while at Xavier.
Trivia // Fun Facts
By: Fallon Perl
- Kelsey Mitchell became the fastest player in NCAA history (since 1981) to record 2,000 career points.
- Ohio State is the winningest program in the Big Ten and on Nov. 15 vs. Idaho, became the first team in the conference 1,000 wins.
By: Chantel Ray
- Head coach Kevin McGuff’s first recruiting class at Ohio State was ranked No. 2 in the country and it was highlighted by McDonald All-Americans.
- Alexa Hart became the 34th Buckeye to record 1,000 career points.
By: Niall Logue
- Columbus was a finalist along with Dallas, Houston, Nashville, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Tampa. Dallas (2017), Tampa (2019) and New Orleans (2020) join Columbus as hosts following an 18-month bidding process.
- The Women’s Final Four will generate an estimated $18–20M in visitor spending for Central Ohio.
By: Anthony DeCarlo
- Freshman guard Jensen Caretti was voted Miss Ohio and Gatorade Player of the Year her senior year of high school, along with being a 5-star recruit.
- Associate head coach Patrick Klein has helped lead the buckeyes to 67 victories, 2 NCAA tournament appearances, and has also played a big role in keeping the Buckeyes in the Top 5 rankings in the country over the last two years in scoring.
By: Isaac Miller
- In 2015–2016, the Women’s Basketball team broke the school record for points per game in a single season, with an average of 86.0 ppg.
- Coach McGuff has coached at high profile programs like Xavier and Notre Dame, where he was apart of the 2001 championship squad.
By: DeVaughn Blair
- The Buckeyes are 8–0 when junior forward Makayla Waterman has 3 or more assists in a game.
- Sophomore guard Karlie Cronin is a two sport athlete and has started 7 games for the lacrosse team.
Game Preview vs. University of Florida
By: Isaac Miller
The No. 12 Buckeyes stayed home on Sunday afternoon and had to claw their way to a win in a contest against the University of Maine. The Black Bears hung around for a while, but the Bucks were eventually able to pull away, led by a double-double from senior forward Stephanie Mavunga, making it the sixth time she has achieved that feat this year.
After a loss to the Duke Blue Devils in the first true road game for Ohio State, they now head away again, this time to Florida to face off with a Gators team that is coming off of two wins with one coming against Jacksonville, and the other, a win over Oklahoma in the Big 12/SEC challenge.
The Buckeyes will need to come to play on both sides of the ball, but will especially need to focus on some defensive keys if a win is eminent.
Against Maine, OSU held an advantage of 11 rebounds, with a total of 44. They will need continued success in that department as the Gators racked up 56 rebounds in their game against Oklahoma, outrebounding the Sooners by 23.
This will be the second meeting between the two squads, the last matchup ending in a loss for the Ohio State in a first round NCAA Tournament contest.
The Buckeyes will need continued great performance from senior guard Kelsey Mitchell, who is leading the nation in points per game, with 25.7, along with an average of 4.3 threes per game.
The Scarlet and Gray will need to key in defensively on the Gators duo of Funda Nakkasoglu and Dyandria Anderson. Anderson is averaging 13.9, and is coming off a career high 29 points against Oklahoma. Nakkasoglu is averaging 16.3 a game, with 24 against Oklahoma.
The Buckeyes defense is giving up an average of just over 70 points a game, while the Gators are scoring about 75 per game. This defensive matchup will be a key throughout the game on Wednesday night in Gainesville.
The Buckeyes do hold an advantage as far as points per game, scoring an average of almost 90 points every game this season. If they can continue this offensive hot streak, the Gators defense, giving up an average of 68 points per game, may have a tough time stopping.
The game against Florida will be a battle of to very stout defenses, and could very well end up being a low-scoring game. To get a win against the team from the SEC, the Buckeyes need to do a great job of taking care of the ball, and cannot continue the trend of averaging just over 2 rebounds a game.
For the Gators, they will need to stop the best player in the nation, Kelsey Mitchell, which is no easy feat. She is 8 points away from tying the all-time record for points, held by Jantel Lavender. The Gators have a tall task ahead of them in Gainesville.
Just Having Fun
By: Chantel Ray
Standing at only five feet, seven inches, senior guard Asia Doss is heading into her final season as a Buckeye. The Detroit native is one of the least talked about Buckeyes on the roster, yet she quietly impacts the game when on the court.
Coming out of high school, she was an ESPN top 100 and four-star prospect. She was ranked No. 89 overall and the No. 22 point guard by ESPN.
Doss averaged eighteen and seventeen points respectively her junior and senior year, which led her to become a McDonald’s All-American nominee.
Flash back to Freshman year, “Freshman year was pretty cool,” said Doss, “it was like coming into a family.”
As the newbie on the team, Doss played and started all 35 games as a freshman.
“Freshman year was different from most people’s, we had a lot of injuries so I was in the starting five,” Doss said.
Despite being the shortest player on the team, she finished with 10 blocks which was third-most on the team.
One year later to sophomore year:
“We had the same team, so there wasn’t really anything to get use to,” Doss stated.
No longer a freshman, she was one of three players on the team to have played in all 34 games.
“I was able to get comfortable with the system and the people I was playing with. It helped me work on my strengths,” said Doss.
Fast forward to junior year:
As she deeply sighed, “Junior year was a little bit more stressful because we actually got freshmen’s that year.” As an upperclassman, Doss played in all 35 games and made 20 starts.
“There was a lot of fighting for spots and people started to complain about playing time,” Doss said. With experience and despite some stressors, she was fourth in the Big Ten with a 2.62 assist to turnover ratio.
“Senior year has started and it has been a lot better I would say,” Doss said. “It’s my last go around and I’m just trying to have fun with it,” as she closes her campaign as a Buckeye. “I was in the gym a lot over the summer time, my shot has improved which is showing because it’s helping the team. I think I’m getting back to myself, like how I played when I got recruited to play here at Ohio State. Lately I’ve just honestly been having fun playing basketball. We’re all on the same page and we all just want to win since our team is predominately seniors. We’re all just trying to make it the best we can and go out with a bang.”
So far, this season Doss has started all eight games with a total of 81 points.
Final Four in Buckeyes backyard
By: Niall Logue
The most competitive and entertaining sporting event for women’s college sports is going to be held in Columbus this new year. The NCAA Final Four for women’s basketball is to be held at Nationwide Arena on March 30 and April 1, 2018.
The Ohio State women’s basketball team are off to a great start to the 2017 season. The No. 12 lady Buckeyes are overall 8–2 in their season so far. This has been one of the best starts in the programs history, and it may be down to one particular end goal.
One could argue that since the Final Four Tournament is to be held here in Columbus, that this is why the Ohio State women’s basketball team has started off so well. The lady Buckeyes are moving in the right direction with how they are playing as far in 2017. The team has only lost twice this year, both of which were tight scoring games. Louisville held the Buckeyes to 5 points in a 95–90 deficit. Duke was next to hold the high scoring Buckeyes within 9 points this time in a 69–60 game, but the Buckeyes have kept the momentum in their corner by picking up big wins along the way.
“I like to challenge us early on,” Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff said. “Having played Stanford who plays a lot of man-to-man, and then Duke who are very zonal, it makes you have to adjust and adapt to different styles of play, so by the time conference play rolls around we will have seen it all.”
Since the announcement of the Final Four being held in Columbus early last year, the Buckeyes have made sure to keep their feet firmly on the ground and their head out of the clouds. The Final Four is a huge draw to the city of Columbus. To have the Scarlet and Gray playing at this event would be an even bigger draw to the public, but a lot of work still has to be done to make sure they are there come late March.
“Playing a team like Duke who is going to be a tournament team and always are a tournament team gives us a lot that we can work on and look back at because once March comes around we want to be in the best shape for NCAA’s,” McGuff said.
While McGuff has his calendar marked for March 30, he knows that it is going to be a tough road ahead to get to that point.
This Buckeye team is filled with a mixture of experience and youth. There are three seniors on the team and two redshirt seniors also. These five players know how hard it is to make it to the Final Four, but will be itching at the opportunity to finish their collegiate careers here in Columbus on the big stage.
Regardless of the Final Four being in Columbus, coach McGuff, his staff and his players know what they have to do to make sure they are there come March 30 at Nationwide Arena when the lights come on and its time to dance.
Next up for the 8–2 Buckeyes is Florida on Wednesday Dec 6. They make the trip down south to play the Gators, who are 5–3 overall this season. The Buckeyes, who just lost their last road game, will look to pick up some vital road points this weekend against the Gators.
Battling through adversity and focusing on improvement
By: Fallon Perl
After competing in all 37 games for the University of North Carolina her freshman year, and starting all 35 games for the Tar Heels sophomore year, having to redshirt upon transferring to Ohio State in the 2015–2016 season was not an easy transition for redshirt senior forward Stephanie Mavunga.
What was even more difficult, however, was battling two separate injuries the following season, once she was able to play, causing her to miss 13 games with the No. 12 Buckeyes, who are now 8–2 this season.
“It was really tough because I’ve never really had big, big injuries that really sat me out for that long, and they were back-to-back, so that was really frustrating,” Mavunga said.
Throughout this time period, Mavunga couldn’t help but get down on herself. She picked up bad eating habits, and continually questioned why these back-to-back injuries had to happen to her, she said.
Luckily, the senior is extremely faith-based and believes that God puts her in situations for a certain reason, which allowed her to change her mentality and remain both focused and positive.
“I’m not going to question God’s plan,” Mavunga said. “So, going from that, I really take my rehab seriously and take my nutrition seriously to make sure I prevent anything that can happen, at least that I have control over.”
Mavunga is now focused on playing to the best of her ability, night in and night out, and improving in the areas that she can.
The senior forward has already notched six double-doubles for the Buckeyes this season, and set the OSU single-game record by grabbing 26 rebounds in the team’s season opening win against Stanford.
“I’m really proud of Steph. She’s worked incredibly hard in the off season. She got in great shape,” head coach Kevin McGuff said, “and so her role for us is to, number one, run the floor and be relentless with that, square around the basket, and then to be a great rebounder and defender.”
There are a couple of areas that Mavunga has been working hard to improve upon this season, however, which include striving to increase her field goal percentage, along with her free throw percentage.
Right now the her field goal percentage is at about 57 percent, but coach Patrick Klein would like it at 65 percent, Mavunga said, and her free throw percentage lingers around 70 percent.
“It’s actually quite embarrassing because I believe that’s my highest [free throw percentage] since I started college, but I really want to get that up,” Mavunga said. “It’s kind of frustrating sometimes because I’ll shoot well in practice in terms of free throws, and then I’ll get into the game and sometimes I’m just rushing.”
Even though the senior has specific areas she wishes to improve upon, she continues to thrive on the court in other ways, helping out her teammates.
“Some of the open shots that we get is because she’s been so relentless about running the floor and making somebody guard her,” McGuff said. “So, even when she doesn’t get it, she really impacts the game by just running and using her speed, quickness, and intensity.”
Throughout both games and practices, McGuff reminds Mavunga and her teammates to stay focused on improvement, whether they’re down by 3 or up by 30.
After the team gets a certain lead, McGuff will reiterate that, while this game may no longer be about beating this team, they still want to get better, Mavunga said. He reminds them to focus on the little things such as the rebounding, the defense, making good passes, limiting turnovers, and staying out of foul trouble.
“If we’re always focused, then we can maintain that focus throughout the season,” Mavunga said. “Regardless of the opponent, we’re always trying to get better. It’s always about us, rather than about who we’re playing.”
An additional key to the Buckeyes success throughout the season thus far has been the leadership on the team, especially from the seniors, McGuff said.
Their chemistry and togetherness has been important early on in the season, and some of that credit goes out to Mavunga.
“She’s a great kid, she provides a lot of leadership, she’s very, very bright, and she’s a good communicator,” McGuff said.
Mavunga is extremely proud of her accomplishments, both with the Buckeyes and with her previous team, the Tar Heels, and she hopes that success will only continue throughout her final season at Ohio State.
Early season tests prove useful for Buckeyes
By: DeVaughn Blair
Some teams try to ease their way into the season with a few warm up games to get a few W’s under their belt. Take the Ohio State men’s basketball team, who didn’t play a single major conference team in their first six games.
The women’s basketball team on the other hand, dove straight into the fire. The Ohio State Buckeye women (7–2) played two top 10 teams, No. 10 Stanford and No. 9 Louisville, in the first three days of the season.
“It was tough, but it I think it helped us find out where we were,” said head coach Kevin McGuff.
In all, the team has played four of their first nine games against teams ranked in the Top 25. They split those games 2–2, with both wins coming over Stanford, including the championship of the Play4Kay tournament.
“It’s good to play against tough teams with different styles early on in the season,” McGuff said, “it’ll help us having seen those different looks before conference play.”
The players also seem to enjoy playing against solid competition to begin the season.
“You have the opportunity to go all out against another player that you don’t necessarily know,” said senior forward Stephanie Mavunga. “You get a better look than in practice.”
With all of the travel that comes with playing in tournaments and big games, practice time comes at a premium. Coming off a stretch of three games in as many days, the team had four days off before another stretch of three games in six days starting with a game at №14 Duke.
Consistent stretches of multiple games in so few days means that the team has to do a lot of its improving in situations that matter.
“There’s not a lot of time in games to make adjustments, but you’ve still go to try,” said Mavunga after the team’s first practice back in Columbus Tuesday. “Games aren’t as much of a controlled environment, you sort of adjust on the fly.”
The tough stretch of games may be taxing for the players physically, but there is an added benefit to playing good teams and facing adversity, said McGuff.
“It has helped them mature and come together,” McGuff said. “We have some great leaders on this team.”
Leadership is important to this senior laden squad who are looking to taste more postseason success after their second straight Sweet Sixteen appearance. The Final Four is being played in Columbus this season, and the team believes it has a shot to make it. In order to do that, the team will have to play some of the top teams in the nation, something their tough regular season will have prepared them for by season’s end.
“We’ve experienced it all up until now, nothing should surprise us, and that’s our advantage,” said Mavunga.
The Buckeyes travel to Gainsville to take on Florida on Wednesday evening. They are currently ranked No. 12 in the nation after winning their most recent game against Maine. They open up conference play on December 28 in Lincoln against Nebraska.
Kelsey Mitchell, a true leader
By: Anthony DeCarlo
Only 5’8" but if you judge her by her stats, she’s one of the biggest threats on the court in women’s basketball. Kelsey Mitchell, the senior guard from Cincinnati, carries with her a mile-long list of accomplishments, and she shows them to you first hand when she steps out onto the court.
It’s her senior year, and now she’s ready to help lead her team to more greatness and more thank likely adding on to her already impressive rap sheet.
Some of Kelsey’s career honors include being a three-time recipient of first team all Big 10, two time B1G player of the year in 2015 and 2016, and first and second team All-American.
The list goes on and on, but her stats back these awards up, and as she goes through her senior year one can only expect it to keep growing.
These honors started pouring in her freshman year and have not slowed down. Her freshman year she was awarded with first team all Big Ten, Big Ten player of the year, Unanimous B1G player of the year, first team All-American (USBWA), second team All-American (AP) and ESPNW, plus another handful of awards that are equally as impressive.
To give you a little bit of understanding just how impressive Kelsey Mitchell is, she is only 19 points away from having the career high at Ohio State, and she is also currently the D1 career three point shooter, and not to mention leading the nation in points per game coming in at an average of 27.3. Kelsey came into the year being awarded the B1G preseason player of the year.
Kelsey doesn’t just understand basketball, but she also understands that being a great student takes priority over being a great ball player.
She has been Academic All-Big 10 in 2016 and 2017, Big Ten distinguished scholar in 2017, and an Ohio State scholar athlete from 2015 through 2017.
These honors piled on top of her athletic honors show you just how driven and focused she is. In all aspects of her life she strives to be the best, and it is truly inspiring.
Almost anytime you read a game article about the Ohio State women’s basketball team you will find the words, “Kelsey Lead” somewhere in there.
She is a team leader and a team player averaging a whopping 38 assists per game, and around 4 rebounds per game which would be surprising for someone who is 5 foot 8 in division 1 of the NCAA but not surprising as all for Buckeye star Kelsey Mitchell.
Kelsey continues to break her own records and the records of others, and also continues to thrive academically.
It is safe to say that she will have no problem succeeding no matter where life takes her, whether her road leads her to the WNBA or a career field in the direction of her major, Kelsey is a worker, teammate, and a leader who will stop at nothing to be the best no matter how far the stretch may seem she finds a way.
