Ohio State Thrives, Iowa and Minnesota Survive In Week One
It feels so good to be back
It was an eventful, exciting and promising first week of games for Big Ten women’s basketball, with the teams combining for a 29-4 record. There were plenty of big-time victories here, but none were larger than Ohio State’s opening day statement over Tennessee.
The Buckeyes, fresh off a Big Ten regular season title and a Sweet 16 run, had plenty of preseason buzz, ranking 14th in the AP Poll. But Ohio State immediately was tested at home, facing off against the No. 5 Volunteers as the slight favorites.
It was a close first half, but one that Tennessee consistently led, taking a 41-33 advantage into halftime thanks to excellent defense that held the Buckeyes under 40 percent shooting.
Ohio State started strong in the second half, but still trailed 54-51 with under three minutes to go in the third quarter. That was when the Buckeyes proved the type of team they can be.
Over the next 4:04 of game time after Tennessee went up three with 2:40 in the third, Ohio State went on an 18-0 run to completely take the game over. Ten of the first 12 points in the 18-0 run came from sharpshooter Taylor Mikesell, who scored 25 on the night.
The Buckeyes ultimately won 87-75. Star guard Jacy Sheldon added 14 points, 7 assists and 8 (!!) steals, a key part of the 29 (!!!!!!!) turnovers Ohio State forced. A few days later, Ohio State took down Boston College 82-64 thanks to forcing 36 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Eagles turnovers. Sheldon had 11 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) steals in that one.
A New Minneapolis Miracle
I spoke a lot about what Minnesota is doing this season with an almost entirely new roster led by a top 10 freshman class. This team, win or lose, is going to be a ton of fun, and the Gophers proved that plenty in their first two games.
The first matchup was uneventful: A 75-45 victory over Western Illinois. But yesterday’s game against Lehigh completely made up for it.
Minnesota led for most of the first three minutes of the game, then for nine seconds in the second quarter and 33 seconds in the third quarter. Lehigh was the team ahead for the vast majority of the game up until Minnesota took a 95-94 lead with 1:15 to go. The teams exchanged the lead three more times, with Lehigh taking a 99-98 lead off a jumper by Mackenzie Kramer with 1.7 seconds remaining, dropping the Gophers to 1-1.
Until.
True freshman Mara Braun, the highest rated prospect in Minnesota’s highly touted class, hit an unbelievable turnaround three to bury Lehigh 101-99. It was the three most impressive points in Braun’s 34-point outing, where she shot 12 of 26, 5 of 13 from deep, and added four steals.
Braun has led her team in scoring both games thus far, scoring 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting in her debut, also adding four steals there. This is exactly what Minnesota wanted, even needed, to see to give the program hope for where it is headed, and it doesn’t stop there.
Minnesota’s two other four-star commits in that class have also been major impact players through two games. Mallory Heyer has started both games and is averaging 10 PPG and 6 RPG while shooting 42.9 percent from the field. Amaya Battle is making significant contributions off the bench with 11.5 PPG/8.5 RPG/5.5 APG, including 17 points and nine rebounds against Lehigh.
But it is, so far, Braun who appears most destined to be a true superstar. To lead all Big Ten players in scoring (27.5 PPG), even after just one week, is remarkable. The Gophers are unlikely to make the NCAA Tournament this season, but freshman performances like these significantly raise the ceiling of this program for the near future.
Iowa Hangs On, Maryland Collapses
Two of the conference’s top teams had important early games against very different opponents, and it led to some similar storylines to last year.
Let’s start with Iowa, who needed overtime to stay undefeated with a 92-86 victory over Drake. The Bulldogs are a good team, sure, but Iowa has Final Four aspirations, so to say this would have been a monumental upset is underselling it.
As is the case in many of the Hawkeyes’ most important games, Monika Czinano was the best player on the court, leading Iowa with 36 points and 11 rebounds on 14-of-21 shooting.
With broad strokes, Caitlin Clark had a solid outing: 28 points, nine assists, two steals. She did have four turnovers, but that’s a somewhat acceptable number paired with the assists. It is the 9 for 28 from the field number that is eye-popping to me.
Clark was a not-great 4 of 14 (28.6 percent) from three, but was an even more concerning 5 of 14 (35.7 percent) from two, far worse than she averaged last year. Those efficiencies are what took Iowa out of the NCAA Tournament early in March, and they are, in my opinion, the most important thing the Hawkeyes need to fix to meet their goals next March.
When you are one of the best players in the nation, which Clark absolutely is, you can’t consistently shoot poorly in big games, and this 32.1-percent outing is concerning to see.
On the other end, Maryland got a home game against No. 1, defending national champ South Carolina. After a close first half, the Gamecocks did what they do and completely flattened the Terps, 81-56. Maryland shot 30.3 percent from the field and was out rebounded 55-32.
That’s the bad, but there are positive takeaways from this game. First of all, Abby Meyers is a special player. She had 16 of Maryland’s 26 first-half points, shooting 47 percent from the field while the rest of her team shot 17.4 percent. She finished with 21 points, the only Terp in double digits, while also adding a team-high six rebounds.
Maryland also kept up with the Gamecocks for half this game, doing so without projected top five pick Diamond Miller. Miller missed games and never quite looked 100 percent last year, so this was and will continue to be a big loss for Maryland until she is back.
Games To Watch
So many fun storylines are happening already in this conference. Here are five key matchups, accidentally all road games, that are worth watching this week:
No. 11 Indiana @ No. 5 Tennessee, 11/14, 6 p.m., ESPN2
A self-explanatory key game this week for a million reasons. The Hoosiers have dominated thus far and get a tough road matchup that’s also good to compare with Ohio State, who just beat this team.
No. 22 Nebraska @ No. 21 Creighton, 11/15, 7 p.m., FloSports
This is the matchup I’m most looking forward to. This is a heated in-state matchup between two ranked teams with high-flying offenses, it’s worth your time.
Minnesota @ North Dakota State, 11/17, 8 p.m., ESPN+
Minnesota’s volatility is always worth watching, and the Gophers are traveling to face a decent North Dakota State squad looking for a big upset.
No. 17 Maryland @ No. 18 Baylor, 11/20, 3 p.m., ESPN+
Will Maryland have Diamond Miller? It’s a huge question, but the Terps have a big chance to bounce back and earn a ranked a victory after squandering the chance this past week.
Wisconsin @ Illinois State, 11/20, 3 p.m., ESPN+
The Badgers have started stronger than last year, and get an opportunity to pick up another solid non-conference win on the road. Illinois State was on the preseason NCAA Tournament bubble in ESPN’s projections.
Feature photo credit: @OhioStateWBB on Twitter
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Correct amount of exclamation marks re: Sheldon, good work on that