It felt like forever to Ohio State women’s basketball coach Kevin McGuff. But in reality, the amount of time between the team’s upset loss in the Big Ten Tournament and the opening round of the NCAA Tournament was only two weeks.
Spending a majority of that time in practice, putting an emphasis on being aggressive in every aspect of the game, whether it be on defense or crashing the board, McGuff was ready to get the Buckeyes back to game action.
Going up against the No. 15 seed Maine, the No. 2 seed Ohio State looked like the last two weeks were spent going hard in the gym, as the Buckeyes defeated the Black Bears 80-57 at Value City Arena on Friday afternoon.
“I think overall we had some really good moments,” McGuff said. “We looked more like ourselves in terms of our intensity, focus, and just how hard we were playing.”
On the defensive end in particular, Ohio State put together a strong performance, which helped start a 32-10 run that lasted over 13 minutes in the first half. Getting stops in the half-court by guarding the Black Bears’ actions, the Buckeyes press started to cause trouble in the second quarter and led to 22 turnovers from Maine overall.
This came after what McGuff considered a “lackadaisical” start on the on defense from Ohio State, especially after allowing Maine’s Olivia Rockwood to score 9 points in the first six minutes of play.
“We had to reiterate our personal and make sure that we know who was guarding who,” said Ohio State’s Taylor Thierry. “Just making sure we’re locked in and focused mentally and physically, and making sure we execute that on the floor.”
The Buckeyes knew that they oversized the Black Bears and could be more aggressive cutting to the post going up against their zone, which allowed players like Thierry and Cotie McMahon to find many of their scoring opportunities.
Thierry was able to have a successful game, scoring 12 points and grabbing five rebounds, despite the fact she was dealing with an issue on her right shooting hand that required two of fingers to be wrapped together. Both herself and McGuff felt it had no effect on her game or her confidence and was just something she had to get comfortable with.
After being outrebounded by Maryland, who recorded 55 compared to the Buckeyes 31, there was a focus on that element of their game as well. Though it was a low rebounding game in general, Ohio State won the battle on the boards, 29-25.
“I talked to coach McGuff about being more aggressive,” said 6-foot-4 forward Rebeka Mikulasikova. “Just grabbing the ball with two hands and focusing on the basics and fundamentals.”
As Ohio State moves on in the tournament, one of the biggest things McGuff wants to see from his team is consistency. In the second half, the Buckeyes only outscored Maine by four points,
“I thought we were really good at times, but we got really sloppy sometimes in the second half,” McGuff said. “It was more of a mental thing. So, I thought our effort and energy was good throughout, but mentally we got a little sloppy and allowed them to get some easy baskets.”
Set to face off against the No. 7 seed Duke in the second round, after they defeated Richmond 72-61, McGuff is expecting to have to execute at a high level facing a strong Blue Devils defense, if the Buckeyes want to return to the Sweet Sixteen.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State uses strength to defeat Maine in March Madness matchup
