The No. 9 Ohio State women’s basketball team is undefeated through 14 games, but a road matchup against Michigan on Wednesday will be the biggest threat the Buckeyes have faced up so far.
The No. 25 Wolverines are 10-4 with a more competitive schedule than the Buckeyes have faced this season.
Each of Michigan’s losses came at the hands of a top-10 ranked team, including a 68-62 loss to former No. 1 South Carolina.
The only ranked opponent Ohio State has faced this season was No. 21 Illinois, who is no longer in the top 25. The Buckeyes easily handled Illinois 83-74.
Similar to Ohio State’s starters who are all averaging more than 10 points per game, Michigan has four of its five starters averaging more than 10 points. Three of those Wolverines are freshman.
“They’ve got a completely different team,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. “They’ve brought in a very talented freshman class, it seems. I like their team. They’re quicker, they’re more athletic, I think they’re more versatile as a group.”
Last season, the Buckeyes were handed their first Big Ten loss of the season by Michigan, 69-60 on the road. In a later meeting between the two teams, Ohio State won 67-51 to secure the Big Ten regular-season title.
The Buckeyes failed to have success in the Big Ten Tournament, being eliminated in the quarterfinals by Maryland, but the four players remaining from last season say they still feel the significance of being the reigning regular-season champions.
“People are coming for us, and that’s just what it is,” Cotie McMahon said. “We’re Big Ten conference champs. People aren’t just coming for us. They are coming for the title. So, that was really our mindset. It will continue to be our mindset every time we play somebody in this conference.”
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Ohio State looks to improve in specific areas ahead of top-25 matchups in Big Ten play
Ohio State is one of eight Big Ten teams ranked in the top 25, and the Buckeyes have each of those teams remaining on the schedule.
“These games are always fun,” McMahon said. “Our conference games, good games, and I just wanted it to be an experience for everyone, because we have a couple of people who just haven’t played in the Big Ten, like Chance (Gray) and (Ajae) Petty.”
Gray and Petty transferred to Ohio State this offseason from different conferences, Gray coming from the Pac 12 and Petty the SEC.
The Big Ten has the most ranked teams this season, including top-ranked UCLA, leading McGuff and multiple players on Ohio State’s roster referring to the Big Ten as the most difficult conference.
In the three days between Ohio State’s 92-62 victory over Northwestern and the Michigan game, the Buckeyes said they’d be honing in on the specific improvements needed for conference play.
“Our half-court defense, our rebounding are areas that need attention,” McGuff said. “Also, we get a little sloppy with our half-court execution. We player really good in space (on Sunday), but we didn’t necessarily screen and execute as good as we could have.”
Ohio State will tip off against Michigan at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State women’s basketball travels to Michigan for road matchup
