Kevin McGuff calls a play for the Ohio State women's basketball team

Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff against Indiana on Jan. 10, 2019. Ohio State won 55-50. Credit: Casey Cascaldo | Lantern File Photo

Although there isn’t a schedule currently in place, Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff detailed how the Buckeyes women’s basketball team is preparing to take a bigger step in the coming season.

McGuff, who is entering his eighth season at the helm of the Buckeyes, spoke via Zoom Friday during the Big Ten Conference’s preseason media day. 

“I think we’re farther along this year, our conditioning is in a better place,” McGuff said. “We’ve been able to accomplish more in the preseason with a lot more people coming back.”

The Associated Press released its preseason Top 25 poll Tuesday, and Ohio State entered at No. 20. The Buckeyes are projected to finish fifth in the Big Ten Conference, according to the Big Ten coaches and media rankings.

The Buckeyes return all five starters from a season in which they reached the Big Ten Tournament championship game for the 11th time in program history. McGuff said that the experience from that starting lineup gave reason for him to expect more out of the team.

“They all look really good right now, and they’re doing a great job in practice,” McGuff said. “That’s a great core for us, that starting five that we have coming back. I’m excited about what they’re going to be able to help us accomplish.”

Junior forward Dorka Juhasz was a unanimous selection by Big Ten coaches to the preseason All-Big Ten team. She led the Buckeyes in scoring last season with an average of 13.2 points per game and finished second in the conference in rebounds with 9.4 per game.

Juhasz scored 20 points in the conference tournament championship game against Maryland, keyed by a career-high four 3-pointers. She said making the conference tournament finals was a “huge” sign of the potential held by the “young and talented” team, but ultimately — with the NCAA Tournament canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic — she wished the Buckeyes could’ve had an opportunity to exhibit just that on a bigger stage.

“It was very disappointing, obviously, just to end our season like that because I thought we had so much more potential,” Juhasz said. “It was very frustrating because I believed that we got so much better throughout the season. We could see the improvements game by game.”

Ohio State entered February with an 11-9 record and was 4-5 in conference play. A six-game winning streak vaulted the momentum of the Buckeyes midway through the month, and a 77-56 road win at Purdue in the final game of the regular season helped Ohio State earn a No. 6 seed in the conference tournament.

Senior guard Braxtin Miller and junior forward Aaliyah Patty combined for 78 points during Ohio State’s four games in the conference tournament. Throughout  the season, Miller led the team in assists with 114 while Patty recorded the second-most rebounds with 179.

“Last year we had a whole bunch of players that could play, which is a good thing,” McGuff said. “We have a chance to have a special season.”

Ohio State also lost four players due to transfers since the end of last season, including three guards and one forward. Although McGuff praised the depth of the roster beyond the starting group of players, he said an important asset to future success may not be something found in box scores.

“One of the strengths of our team is going to be our leadership out of Dorka, Aaliyah and Braxtin,” McGuff said. “Madison (Greene) and Jacy (Sheldon) had outstanding freshman campaigns.”

Greene and Sheldon each started at least 21 games during their freshman seasons and averaged 9.6 and 7.7 points per game, respectively.

As the team waits to find out who it will oppose first, Juhasz is optimistic that Ohio State will pick up where it left off.

“I think we’re at a great point right now, we’re really moving well with each other,” Juhasz said. “I feel like the chemistry is way better than last year on and off the court, that’s very promising. But I also think it’s going to be similar like last year where we’re going to progress game by game and hopefully do something big in the Big Ten Conference.”