Calhoun finds her touch from three-point range
The temperature outside Value City Arena was 14 degrees Friday afternoon, but inside the Ohio State women’s practice facility things were at a boil with the players charging hard despite having returned from a victory at Nebraska in the wee hours of the morning.
Redshirt junior guard Sierra Calhoun particularly was hot to the touch coming off a 73-61 victory having gone 3-of-6 from three-point range and scoring 13 points.
Calhoun is smiling easily these days in having made 26 of her last 58 three-point attempts over eight games. She has had four three-pointers in half of those games.
“We’re definitely trying to keep the energy going,’’ she said of the second Big Ten game of the season against Indiana (7-7) on Sunday at Value City Arena. “We’re trying to gel as a team and get into Big Ten play strong because we’re chasing the ring.’’
Calhoun started the season missing 29 of her first 35 three-pointers, including 1-of-10 in a 95-90 overtime loss to Louisville. She didn’t have a three in three of the first six games.
Last season, she had 68 three-pointers, good for second on the team behind All-American Kelsey Mitchell, and shot 38.6 percent behind the arc.
“I’ve just been focusing and my teammates have been finding me,’’ Calhoun said. “We’ve been practicing a lot and I’ve been getting a lot of shots in. For sure, I’ve put in a lot of work. I started slow and there was a little pressure to be a good shooter. But I also want to do other things like playing defense, getting rebounds and making the mid-range shots.’’
Calhoun is not much different than a No. 3 batter in baseball protecting the cleanup hitter, which in this case is Mitchell. If her shot is going in, opponents can’t gang up on Mitchell.
“Kelsey draws a lot of attention on the perimeter and teams play a lot of zone against us, so Sierra is a really important player for us,’’ coach Kevin McGuff said. “I’m confident in her and I tell her that. We need for her to play at a high level, and it’s not just scoring, but defense and rebounding. Sierra missed some shots early and for a second forgot how good she is and how important she is to our team.’’
The longer Calhoun stays hot, the more opponents will be spread thin defensively.
“We’re trying to make teams pick their poison,’’ GAME PREVIEW
Indiana at Projected starters
OHIO STATE
No. 12 Ohio State
G Kelsey Mitchell, 5-8, Sr., 26.1
G Sierra Calhoun, 6-0, Jr., 13.0 G Linnae Harper, 5-8, Sr., 15.4
G Asia Doss, 5-7, Sr., 9.4 F Stephanie Mavunga, 6-3, Sr., 15.0
Key reserves: F Hart, 6-3, Sr., 5.1; G Caretti, 6-1, So., 2.5
INDIANA
G Tyra Buss, 5-8, Sr., 19.9 G Jaelynn Penn, 5-10, Fr., 9.0
G Bendu Yeaney, 5-10, Fr., 8.1
F Kym Royster, 6-2, Jr., 10.9
F Amanda Cahill, 6-2, Sr., 13.4
Key reserves: G Warthen, 5-10, Fr., 3.6; F Wickware, 6-2, So., 1.4; C Marchese, 6-4, Fr., 1.3. 2 P.M. TODAY
Where: Value City Arena TV: ESPN2
Radio: WBNS-AM (1460) Records: Ohio State 12-2, 1-0 Big Ten; Indiana 7-7, 0-1
Notable: Asia Doss had seven steals for Ohio State on Thursday in a 73-61 victory at Nebraska. The Buckeyes had 14. … Ohio State has won 10 straight against Indiana; the Hoosiers’ last victory in the series came on New Year’s Eve 2010 (67-62). … Junior forward Makayla Waterman (ankle) will not play. … Indiana senior guard Tyra Buss has 1,880 points and needs 38 to pass Denise Jackson (1,917) to become the school’s career scoring leader.
she said. “If I’m coming off a high ball screen and Kelsey is in the corner, they have to make a decision. Do you want her to shoot it 50 percent or me to shoot it 50 percent?’’