2022 Ohio State University
Brice Sensabaugh won Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his performance last week, and he once again led the Buckeyes to a dominating performance on December 21st in their 95-61 win over the Maine Black Bears. He was one of five Ohio State players to score double-digits in their seventh win of the season, and he led the Buckeyes in points (19), rebounds (seven) and assists (seven).
This was not expected to ever be a close game and it never was. The Buckeyes showed off their superior abilities from the start, but it did show Buckeye fans exactly what they needed to see: Confidence, something the young Bucks have struggled with this season.
Against the Black Bears, Ohio State shot over 60% from the floor and over 40% from behind the three-point arc. They also had six steals and five blocks. Everything that could go right did go right, and that is exactly the kind of game the team needed to have before getting into conference play in January.
Ohio State will take a week long hiatus before venturing back into the Schottenstein Center on December 29th to take on Alabama A&M at 3:00 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
2022 Ohio State University
Ohio State women's basketball continued to be perfect despite a near upset this past Tuesday night (December 20th) in the San Diego Invitational. They battled back from a double-digit deficit to force overtime in a battle against South Florida (USF) and ended up with a late victory that kept the perfect season alive. They then took on No. 16 Oregon the next night, in which they struggled early on, as Oregon stuck around for a quarter before the Buckeyes popped off with a near 20-point victory despite scoring just five points in the third quarter.
Player of the Tournament goes to Taylor Thierry. She delivered the game-winning shot in overtime against the Bulls on Tuesday and scored 23 points while missing just two shots against USF. Against the Ducks, she managed 14 points. While she hasn't been blowing anyone out of the building with her scoring compared to some of her teammates, she did lead the team in rebounds and steals and was second in blocks.
The women has now moved to 13-0 to start the season and have shown the ability to win big games no matter who is on the floor. They have been without Jacy Sheldon for most of the season after she started the year off leading the nation in steals and led the team to first in the nation in turnovers forced while also managing to score nearly 20 points a game. Rebeka Mikulasikova had gone on a four-game scoring drought that ended against Oregon.
This might be the most complete women's basketball team that Ohio State has had since the mid 1990s when they were the NCAA runner-up under coach Nancy Darsh and held a 28-4 record. Time will only tell if they can be better, but that's the expectation this team has set through the opening half of the season.
The women will be back in action on December 28th when they hit the road to begin their conference slate against Northwestern at 9:00 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
