Early schedule presents many challenges
The Ohio State women’s basketball team expects to contend for its second straight Big Ten regularseason title and perhaps make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
But before it gets there, it will face a few teams at the start of the 2017-18 season that it could run into again down the road.
The Buckeyes know they have experience; the roster features just one freshman and two sophomores. They also have talent, as four of the team’s top five scorers from last season return.
OSU also expects to learn a lot about itself between opening night and the end of November. After two exhibition games, including a matchup against defending Division II national champion Kelsey Mitchell, going up for a score against a couple of Kentucky defenders, and the Buckeyes will face a tough schedule the month of November that begins with the opener against Stanford.
Ashland on Sunday in Value City Arena, Ohio State figures to be tested a lot in the coming weeks.
Stanford, which lost to eventual national champion South Carolina in the Final Four last season, visits St. John Arena on Nov. 10 in the first month of the regular season. Two days later, the Buckeyes face Louisville, a Sweet 16 team in the 2017
NCAA Tournament, in the Countdown to Columbus showcase at Nationwide Arena.
Quinnipiac, a late add to the schedule, was a surprise Sweet 16 team as a No. 12 seed last season. The Bobcats visit Value City Arena on Nov. 17, and following the Play4Kay Showcase in Las Vegas, which could potentially see the Buckeyes face two more 2017 tournament teams, Ohio State wraps up a challenging month at Duke on Nov. 30 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
“We’re playing some of the best teams in the country, so we’re going to figure out (our team),” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. “The thing I like about it is if you look, it’s different styles of play, and I think that’s important as well. We see a lot of different things thrown at us throughout the year, and this first month of the season is going to really help with it.”
In addition to different defensive looks from opponents, most Ohio State players will see more minutes in that opening stretch. With 10 players in the rotation during the 2016-17 season, only reigning Big Ten player of the year Kelsey Mitchell averaged more than 25 minutes. Only seven of those regulars return for this season, meaning more time on the court for rotation players and more fitness required to account for the difference.
“You get in the best shape by actually playing,” redshirt junior forward Makayla Waterman said. “(McGuff) tries to let us play a lot through practice and we go against guys in every practice. That definitely helps.”
Ohio State went 28-7 last season, and four of its losses came by Dec. 19 against Baylor, the University of Miami and two Final Four teams, South Carolina and Connecticut. At least some adversity is once again expected.
“Everything is not going to be perfect. We’re not going to have everything go our way,” Mitchell said. “I mean, we want to start off great, but if it doesn’t happen, I think we can bounce back and do what we need to do in those situations if it comes down to that.”
In the Buckeyes’ early tests, teams likely will attempt to expose the same weaknesses, namely perimeter defense, that hurt Ohio State on occasion last season.
“This team should be playing against the best teams in the country. We would be selling ourselves short if we weren’t,” McGuff said. “It’s going to be challenging for sure, and we’re going to have to fight through adversity and things aren’t going to go as we want every single night, but that’s why we’re doing it.”