No. 1 UCLA women’s basketball (21-0, 9-0 Big Ten) will take on the second-best Big Ten team in No. 8 Ohio State (20-1, 9-1). UCLA women’s basketball is the only NCAA team, on both the men’s and women’s sides, to remain undefeated, and will face their highest-ranked conference opponent Wednesday night. Here is a breakdown of the Buckeyes’ lineup from assistant Sports editor Sabrina Messiha and contributor J. Spencer Brown.
Personnel:
Coach: Kevin McGuff
Bigs/Forwards: F Ajae Petty, F Cotie McMahon, C Elsa Lemmilä
Guards: G Chance Gray, G Jaloni Cambridge, G/F Taylor Thierry
Best Player: F Cotie McMahon
X-Factor: G/F Taylor Thierry
Stat Profile:
Points per game: 81.6
Field goal percentage: .461
Points allowed per game: 58.9
Field goal percentage allowed: .384
Bigs
Despite being a No. 2 seed last March, Ohio State fell to No. 7 seed Duke at home in the second round.
In the Buckeyes’ loss to the Blue Devils, forward Cotie McMahon – ranked No. 23 in the class of 2022 – put up 27 points.
Ohio State now ranks second in the Big Ten, trailing only undefeated UCLA. Six-foot McMahon leads the Buckeyes with 16.5 points per game as the starting small forward. If the Bruins are going to extend their winning streak, they’ll have to shut down McMahon in the paint.
McMahon will face two taller UCLA forwards in 6-foot-4 graduate student Angela Dugalić and 6-foot-3 junior Timea Gardiner.
While it boasts a taller starting five than Ohio State, UCLA will not have the significant height advantage it’s become accustomed to.
Ohio State’s bench includes center Elsa Lemmilä, who stands only an inch shorter than 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts – UCLA’s tallest player. Lemmilä played a season-high 24 minutes against Ohio on Nov. 20, while Betts’ highest mark was 37 minutes against then-No. 1 South Carolina on Nov. 24. But despite being the tallest player on the team’s roster, Lemmilä likely won’t start against the Bruins.
Six-foot-3 forward Ajae Petty is the Buckeyes’ tallest starter. The LSU/Kentucky transfer averages 7.1 rebounds per game, compared to Betts’ 9.7. Because Ohio State is without a center in its starting lineup, Petty, likely to assume the power forward role, will be one of multiple players assigned to shut Betts down.
Whether Ohio State will rely on its trusted starters or pull height from the sidelines to stifle the reigning AP National Player of the Week remains to be seen.
Guards
Ohio State’s backcourt is led by 5-foot-9 guard Chance Gray and 5-foot-7 guard Jaloni Cambridge.
Gray spent her freshman and sophomore seasons with Oregon, starting in nearly every game and averaging 10.3 and 13.9 points, respectively. Her best performance with Ohio State came against Charlotte on Nov. 12, where she scored a career-high 31 points and knocked down nine 3-pointers. Primarily playing off the ball, Gray fills the role of shooting guard for the Buckeyes and has attempted a team-high 140 shots from deep this season.
Cambridge played high school basketball with Montverde Academy in Montverde, Florida – an alma mater she shares with UCLA junior forward Janiah Barker. The point guard joined her teammate, McMahon, as one of the 50 players included in the Ann Meyers Drysdale Midseason Watch List for the National Player of the Year on Monday.
The last member of the Ohio State starting backcourt is 6-foot-1 guard/forward Taylor Thierry. Thierry, who averages a team-high 58.8% shooting from the field, recorded a season-high seven steals during the team’s win over Youngstown State on Dec. 14 and leads the team in 3-point percentage – making 52.8% of her attempts from deep this season.
Assuming Gray and Cambridge are assigned to UCLA’s smallest guards – juniors Kiki Rice, Londynn Jones or freshman Elina Aarnisalo – Thierry will likely match up against 6-foot junior guard Gabriela Jaquez and 6-foot-2 freshman forward Kendall Dudley. But depending on how the Buckeyes decide to tackle Betts, Thierry’s length as a help defender could be useful in slowing down the National Player of the Year candidate.
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