The Buckeyes stand together and sing Carmen Ohio after the Ohio State-Penn State game Feb. 24. Ohio State won 78-55. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
The Ohio State women’s basketball team became Co-Big Ten Champions for the 17th time Sunday after its final regular season victory over Michigan State, but now the quest for another title begins.
The No. 13 Buckeyes (22-5, 14-4 Big Ten), who share the 2021-2022 Big Ten title with the No. 12 Iowa Hawkeyes (20-7, 14-4 Big Ten), seek to earn their seventh Big Ten Tournament title in the program’s history starting Friday.
Although the Buckeyes are the No. 1 seed in the tournament, senior guard Braxtin Miller said the team still perceives itself as an underdog, which continues to be a primary motivation heading into the postseason.
“I think that just gives us more motivation, feels like we have more to prove and just being able to all play together and do it together and then play for each other knowing that that’s kind of what’s fun about this is really motivating,” Miller said.
While aboard an aircraft en route back to Columbus, the Buckeyes found out about their regular-season conference title, following Iowa’s upset of No. 10 Michigan. Senior guard Taylor Mikesell said being together as a team when receiving the news made it more special.
“It was awesome,” Mikesell said. “I thought it was a pretty cool moment. Just special. Everybody was celebrating that we did something that we set our goals out in the beginning.”
The Buckeyes are making their first postseason run in two years after the 2020 cancellation due to COVID-19 and a self-imposed ban in 2021 as a result of the Klein Investigation.
Head coach Kevin McGuff said last year’s postseason ban affected, motivated and prepared the team even more this season.
“I think certainly coming into the year, we were hungry with that, kind of once you get going, you kind of focus on the process of this year,” McGuff said. “But that’s certainly kind of fueled a lot of the offseason work effort in preparing for this year.”
Although the Buckeyes hold the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament, Miller said she believes they have more to prove in the tournament, especially after tough losses to Michigan and Indiana earlier in the season.
“We took that pretty hard, and I don’t think that that was the best representation of ourselves,” Miller said.“I think we know that and that’s something that is big for us and that we need to work on in the back of our minds.”
Miller said her squad is ready for the challenge of playing on the big stage of the Big Ten Tournament, and had one message to the teams they will face down the road.
“We’re here and we’re going to play hard and do our best and be really tough,” Miller said. “I think that that’s been our main thing this year, and that’s something we’ve discussed all together is that we might not always be the most talented or the tallest or anything like that, but we’re going to try to be the one that plays the hardest.”
The Big Ten released its all-conference award winners Tuesday with four Buckeyes making the cut, including junior guard Jacy Sheldon, sophomore guard Rikki Harris, Mikesell and Miller.
Sheldon and Mikesell were both selected by the coaches of the conference and the media to the All-Big Ten First Team. Mikesell averages 19.1 points a game and has made 99 3-pointers, which is third in the NCAA, and she ranks second in the NCAA for 3-point efficiency, shooting 47.1 percent.
Sheldon was also awarded the All-Big Ten Defensive Team by the Big Ten coaches. Sheldon currently leads the Buckeyes in points averaging 19.4 points a game and totaling 49 steals and 109 assists of the season.
Miller, the 5-foot-11 guard, was named an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. Miller averaged 6.5 points per game and recorded 81 assists and 32 steals on the season.
Harris was selected as Ohio State’s Sportsmanship Honoree. Harris became a prominent member of the starting five Jan. 12 and has averaged 7.2 points a game and is second on the team for blocks recording 16.
Miller, one of the three captains on the squad, said she is proud of how her team has come together and supported one another throughout the entirety of the season.
“I just think that I’m so proud to be on a team with so many people that want to play hard for each other and care about each other and work hard for each other, regardless of what that looks like,” Miller said.
The Buckeyes will begin their conference tournament run Friday in Indianapolis at 11:30 a.m. against the winner of the Purdue-Michigan State game. Ohio State has competed against Purdue once and Michigan State twice this season, coming out victorious all three times.
