Senior guard Taylor Mikesell (24) dribbles the ball during the No. 14 Ohio State women’s basketball exhibition game against Notre Dame College Monday. Ohio State won 118-33. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
Senior guard Taylor Mikesell knew immediately after the Ohio State women’s basketball team lost in the Sweet 16 to second-seeded Texas last season that something special was brewing in Columbus.
Mikesell, who led the regular-season Big Ten champion Buckeyes with a 47.5 3-point percentage last season, said she and senior guard Jacy Sheldon were on their way to postgame interviews when they turned toward one another.
“We just both looked at each other, we’re like, ‘We have to do this again next year,’” Mikesell said. “We knew that we could do more, knew that this was just scratching the surface of what we could be as a team.”
Ohio State enters the 2022-23 season as the No. 14 team in the Associated Press Top 25. The Buckeyes are hungry for more, and Mikesell said the Buckeyes have a “genuine, legit chance” to reach the Final Four.
Head coach Kevin McGuff enters his 10th season with the program. He and the Buckeyes are looking to build on that success and carry that momentum into a deeper postseason run this time around.
“They worked really hard in the offseason and have done so far again this preseason,” McGuff said. “That’s the type of stuff that will carry the day and hopefully put us in position to compete again at the top of the Big Ten.”
This year’s roster has returning experience with eight players back from a season ago. The Buckeyes will rely on their fast-paced offense, which averaged 78.2 points per game to rank third in the Big Ten last season, and full-court press to tire out their opponents.
Leading the team will be the backcourt duo of Mikesell and Sheldon. They return as the team’s top two scorers from last season and both were named to the preseason All-Big Ten teams.
Sheldon led the team in scoring each of the past two seasons, and averaged 19.7 points per game in 2021-22. Mikesell in her own right averaged 18.6 points per game on 47.5 percent shooting from 3-point land, the latter the second-highest mark in the country.
Entering their second year playing with each other, Mikesell is excited to keep building their relationship.
“Jacy is incredible. She’s probably the most unselfish person I’ve ever met, and being able to play with her has been great,” Mikesell said. “I think we compliment each other really well on the court, and I’m excited to see where this year goes.”
Also returning to the backcourt is redshirt junior guard Madison Greene, who missed the entire 2021-22 season due to a knee injury. In her last action, Greene averaged 13.4 points and a team-high 4.3 assists in 15 games.
The team and coaching staff are ecstatic to have the Pickerington, Ohio, native, back on the floor. During her injury, McGuff said the junior guard’s role was like a “coach on the bench” for the team, but her teammate Sheldon prefers Greene alongside her on the court.
“I love playing with Madison,” Sheldon said. “We played against each other in high school, and it’s not even close. It’s way more fun playing with her.”
Leading the frontcourt this season is senior forward Rebeka Mikulasikova. The team’s top rebounder in 2021-22, Mikulasikova is doing what she can to help the team in more of a leadership role this season.
Aside from the returners, Ohio State has a few fresh faces that will make impacts on the floor. Heading into this season, Ohio State has three new freshmen and three new transfers.
Headlining the group is freshman forward Cotie McMahon. A Centerville, Ohio, native, McMahon enrolled a semester early in the spring at Ohio State after being named the No. 23 player for her class in the ESPNW Hoopgurlz rankings, according to Ohio State athletics.
Most recently, McMahon won a gold medal with Team USA’s Women’s U18 National Team at the 2022 FIBA WU18 Americas Championship and was named one of the tournament’s top five players.
Ohio State plays a tough nonconference schedule. The Buckeyes open the season with a highly anticipated matchup against No. 5 Tennessee Tuesday.
They’ll also head to Boston College for a road game with the Eagles Nov. 13 and play No. 7 Louisville in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge Nov. 30, all of which are in their first seven games.
McGuff said the schedule for nonconference games was ramped up, but that isn’t irregular from his other years coaching at Ohio State, and he is confident in his team and its potential.
“I believe in the team and I wanted to challenge them as much as we could in the nonconference to really find out where we were and prepare ourselves for the Big Ten,” McGuff said. “Hopefully, we do enough to be in postseason play and the positive ramifications of playing a schedule like this hopefully pay dividends when you come to March.”
Ohio State begins its season Tuesday against the Volunteers at 4 p.m. at the Schottenstein Center. Big Ten Network will broadcast.
