Ohio State looks to add to perfect home record when it faces Montana State in NCAA women’s tourney
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio State’s last home loss was particularly painful. Cotie McMahon and the Buckeyes are hoping to avoid that feeling this weekend.
Ohio State is 15-0 at home this season going into the NCAA women’s tournament. If the Buckeyes win two more games at Value City Arena, they will move into the Sweet 16 for the third time in four seasons.
The fourth-seeded Buckeyes (25-6) host No. 13 seed Montana State (30-3) in the first round on Friday. The winner moves on to face either Tennessee or South Florida on Sunday.
Ohio State’s last home loss was against Duke in last year’s NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes were a No. 2 seed when they lost 75-63 to the seventh-seeded Blue Devils in the second round.
“That’s not something that we want to feel again, not being able to win both (NCAA) games here,” said McMahon, an honorable mention AP All-American for the Buckeyes. “It definitely hurt us a lot, I would say. Having the chance to host an NCAA Tournament, it’s crazy. It’s not every day where a lot of teams get to do what we do. Hopefully, everybody really understands how big and how serious this is.”
McMahon leads the Buckeyes at 16.6 points and 4.6 rebounds per game. Guard Jaloni Cambridge, named the co-Big Ten freshman of the year, is averaging 15.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.0 steals in her first season with Ohio State.
The Buckeyes, ranked 15th in the final AP poll, opened the season 17-0 and 20-1. But they went just 5-5 down the stretch, with three of those losses coming at the hands of new Big Ten powers Southern California and UCLA.
Ohio State has had nearly two weeks to regroup since an ugly 75-46 loss to UCLA in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
“We’ve really tried to emphasize the urgency in between the Big Ten Tournament and heading into this matchup,” said Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff, whose team is hosting NCAA first weekend action for the third straight year. “I think the biggest key for us is getting more consistent play for closer to 40 minutes than we’ve had at times this year.”
Montana State makes its 1,700-mile trip to Columbus after winning both the Big Sky regular season and tournament championships. The Bobcats edged rival Montana 58-57 in the tournament final to earn the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA. The matchup with the Buckeyes is the first meeting of the programs.
This is Montana State’s fourth NCAA berth and first since 2022, when the Bobcats were routed by No. 1 seed Stanford 78-37. The Bobcats have never gotten out of the first round.
“We know it’s going to be a challenge, the task at hand,” said Tricia Binford, who is in her 20th season as the Montana State coach. “This team is very good on their home floor, but our kids believe in what they bring to the table. That’s all I care about right now, for them to play their basketball and trust their potential and what they bring to the table and make it a great game.”
Montana State is led by guard Esmeralda Morales, a Portland State transfer who is averaging 15.3 points and 3.7 assists per game this season.
Volunteering for duty
Tennessee has played in every NCAA women’s tourney since its inception in 1982. The Volunteers are synonymous with Pat Summitt, who coached Tennessee to eight national championships and 18 Final Fours. But the Vols have not been back to the Final Four since winning the championship in 2008.
First-year coach Kim Caldwell and her team kept the school’s NCAA string – now at 43 consecutive tournaments — alive by posting a 22-9 record. The Volunteers, ranked 20th in the final AP poll, were knocked out of the SEC tournament with an 84-76 loss to Vanderbilt in a second-round game.
“I’m thankful to be the leader of this program,” Caldwell said. “It’s remarkable. It’s a long history that has a lot to do with the people that came before us, and we want to continue to make them proud and keep the streak alive.”
The fifth-seeded Volunteers open NCAA play against No. 12 seed South Florida (23-10), which won the American Athletic Conference Tournament championship after finishing third in the conference in the regular season. The Bulls defeated Rice 69-62 in the conference championship game. This is UCF’s 10th NCAA berth. The Bulls are 5-9 in NCAA action.
This marks the second meeting between these programs, with Tennessee taking a 52-49 win in the initial clash on Nov. 15, 2021, in Knoxville.
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