The glaring issue facing Ohio State women’s basketball for the 2026-27 season

Story by

Story by
The glaring issue facing Ohio State women’s basketball for the 2026-27 season

COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 23: Jaloni Cambridge #22 of the Ohio State Buckeyes reacts after missing a shot during the third quarter of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament Second Round game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Jerome Schottenstein Center on March 23, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. Notre Dame defeated Ohio Sate 83-73. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Thomas Costello

Tue, October 27, 2026 at 5:31 PM UTC ·

11 min read

About Our Ads

All of the signs are there that it's almost time for competitive college basketball. The Big Ten released the schedule, teams sent two players and their coach to the Chicagoland area for media day, and there are exhibition game highlights popping up across social media.

Outside of the 18 Big Ten programs preparations are the prognosticators who say which teams will be good and which teams are relegated to a tier of teams that need to earn back their spot at the top of the country.

Ohio State women's basketball returned eight of its 11 players from last season, including four members of the starting five. Within that group are three players who led the Big Ten across various statistics.

Point guard Jaloni Cambridge returns her conference-leading 23.2 points per game. Then there's Jaloni Cambridge's older sister, Kennedy Cambridge, who grabbed 3.7 steals per game, on her way to the new program record with 130 steals in a single season.

In the paint is center Elsa Lemmilä, whose 2.3 blocks per game surpassed even Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Betts' 2.1 per game. The latter earned her spot atop the blocks list after a slow start to the season, after Lemmilä went through not one but two surgeries that negated nearly an entire offseason of preparation.

Despite a third year in a row where the Buckeyes fell at home in their second game of the NCAA Tournament, Ohio State ended the conference season with a No. 4 finish. Head coach Kevin McGuff's team was also only two Big Ten programs that played to within 10 points of the eventual National Championship-winning UCLA Bruins.

On top of all that, Ohio State achieved it all with an underclassmen-heavy side.

According to many across sports media, that will not be enough for the Buckeyes to truly compete inside the Big Ten.

On Tuesday, Associated Press voters ranked the Buckeyes No. 18 in its first top-25 poll of the season, behind six other Big Ten teams. ESPN did the same in the network's own top-25 list.

Both rankings put Ohio State behind the Washington Huskies and Minnesota Golden Gophers, both opponents the Buckeyes defeated last season, and the Minnesota win in the Big Ten Tournament came after the Golden Gophers humbled the Scarlet and Gray during the regular season.

The IX Sports did not have Ohio State in their top-25 at all; instead, they opted to have nine Big Ten teams ahead of the Scarlet and Gray, with Nebraska and Illinois moved in front of the Buckeyes.

Is it a scenario where Ohio State is not in the spotlight with the return of USC Trojans star JuJu Watkins? Did those three Second Round exits sour the public towards the Scarlet and Gray's recent success?

Either of those could be true, but there is one glaring issue for the team headed into the 26-27 season: who is going to help Jaloni Cambridge score points?

Last season, only two Buckeyes averaged double-digit points per game. Aside from the career season for then-sophomore Jaloni Cambridge, it was a standout year for now Los Angeles Sparks guard Chance Gray.

In Gray's final season, the Cincinnati native averaged 14.7 points with team highs of 2.4 made three-point shots per game and 40.5% shooting from beyond the arc, for a player who played at least 10 minutes a game.

In 35 games last campaign, Jaloni Cambridge led the Buckeyes in scoring in 26 contests. All but five of the 21 games against Big Ten sides ended with the sophomore point guard leading the way in the scoring column. The most impressive of the schedule came against the Illinois Fighting Illini when Jaloni Cambridge scored 41 points, with five-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson watching from the front row.

Gray complemented the sophomore guard well as a shooting guard. The work Gray put in between her down junior year into the final season of eligibility showed and boosted the Ohioan's draft stock, but now she is gone and the Buckeyes need someone else to step up into that role.

"We're going to miss Chance [Gray] for sure. She had a terrific season last year. Her perimeter scoring was outstanding. She played really well in a lot of big games, and probably as important as anything, her leadership. You know, she had a lot of experience, and she was really good with a young team in helping lead us. And so I think you put all that together, it's not going to be easy to replace her."

If McGuff's group wants to move past the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, Ohio State realistically needs a few players to take some of the workload from Jaloni Cambridge.

McGuff and the staff did not get anybody out of the transfer portal, saying that nobody "really worked out." Instead, the program believes that it has the players that it needs already on the 11-player roster.

Junior guard Ava Watson is the likely starter in place of Gray. The guard started 16 games last season when forward/guard Kylee Kitts injured her shoulder against the TCU Horned Frogs on Jan. 19.

However, Watson was not tasked with much in terms of offensive responsibility. Not like the guard will have in year three in a projected starting role for the first time in her collegiate career.

While Watson was a defense-first guard in the 25-26 season, Watson did show her deep shooting ability over two seasons in Columbus. As a freshman, that was her primary role — come in, catch the ball, and shoot it. When Watson began to find consistency, an ankle injury derailed most of the remainder of the season.

Now, Watson is healthy and has expectations to play big minutes on both sides of the ball, and has the ability and experience to step into a Gray's starting shooting guard role. In all facets that Gray helped the team, far beyond hitting some shots behind the three-point line.

"Her [Gray's] confidence, just to go out on the court and produce for her teammates. She made a lot of shots. She gave us a lot of stuff on the boards, but off the court, she was like a sister to me, and just her coaching me on the side and just always feeding me information that I needed on and off the court."

COLUMBUS, OHIO - MARCH 23: Guard Ava Watson (5) of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrates after a basket with guard Chance Gray (2) of the Ohio State Buckeyes during a second round game of the 2026 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish held at Jerome Schottenstein Center on March 23, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jay LaPrete/NCAA Photos/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) | NCAA Photos via Getty Images

Elsewhere at the guard role is Kennedy Cambridge, who enters her final season in college basketball this year with Ohio State. The guard went from redshirt status in her first year after she transferred from Kentucky to a bench defender.

Then, last season, Cambridge exploded defensively and was a candidate for Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. In Kennedy Cambridge's final season, McGuff sees more opportunity for her on the court.

"I think a lot of people saw how good she [Kennedy Cambridge] is on the defensive end, and what a good fit she is here for how we play," said McGuff. "But she also had a good offensive year, and I think she's going to take a step on that end of the floor and be even more assertive as an offensive player here."

There were games over the past two seasons where Kennedy Cambridge showed her potential offensively. In her redshirt sophomore season, the guard made circus layups seemingly every other game. Last season, Kennedy Cambridge showed a deep shot and had three games where she hit at least three from beyond the arc.

That is not much for shooting guards around the Big Ten, but in a role as a defensive No. 3 guard, those games came against top opponents like the UConn Huskies, Maryland Terrapins and Oregon Ducks. This offseason, Kennedy Cambridge traded her usual summer travels for work in the gym, in hopes of boosting her offensive output and grabbing at least 12 more steals to hold the Big Ten single-season record.

"You should see the work that she put in the off season. I think she did more than me, honestly. I know she did more than me, and that says a lot," Jaloni Cambridge told reporters.

In the post will be redshirt sophomore Kylee Kitts and junior Elsa Lemmilä. The aforementioned shoulder injury slowed down growing momentum for Kitts in her first collegiate season getting in-game minutes. Kitts got hot in the last game of 2025 and the three weeks that followed before her injury.

Kitts showed that she is a future double-double threat while also shooting 42.9% from beyond the arc in the seven-game stretch. At 6-foot-4, Kitts size and athleticism will force defenses to make difficult decisions and help open the floor for her teammates, and benefit from the space taken up by Jaloni Cambridge to continue Kitts' strong three-point shooting.

For Lemmilä, this season is special. It's the first time in five years that the 6'6 Finnish center has not been injured to enter a season of basketball.

"It doesn't feel like I'm starting from zero again, which has been really important for me, especially confidence-wise, and having the opportunity to play throughout the summer, not only with practicing here in Ohio, but also going to play games with my national team, has instilled a lot of confidence in me," Lemmilä told reporters.

Last season it was a pair of offseason surgeries that hampered the preseason development for Lemmilä. The center started the first three games of the season but was clearly still in recovery from her two surgeries. After the 100-68 blowout loss to the UConn Huskies, Lemmilä missed a game and then went to the bench.

In Lemmilä's first 11 appearances of the season, the center averaged 6.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. However, as the season went on, so did Lemmilä's recovery and, with it, increased confidence.

That confidence yielded results, and in Lemmilä's final 23 games, all starts, she had a stat line of 10.5 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game. In the last nine games, Lemmilä had her best stretch of basketball in her two seasons with eight games of at least 10 rebounds.

Now Ohio State gets a full, healthy offseason under Lemmilä's belt, and with it a chance to continue her development while also yielding results as she did in the latter part of the 2025-26 campaign.

COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND - JANUARY 11: Elsa Lemmilä #12 and Kylee Kitts #1 of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrate with teammates during the fourth quarter against the Maryland Terrapins at Xfinity Center on January 11, 2026 in College Park, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Then there is Jaloni Cambridge herself. The sophomore guard carried the Buckeyes for much of the season and in the postseason, teams knew it.

In the Big Ten Tournament semifinal, UCLA made the day tough for the point guard, and the pressure for Jaloni Cambridge to lift the team was evident with forced shots, trying to shoot over Betts' 6-foot-7 frame. This summer, the Buckeyes focused on strength conditioning, and Jaloni Cambridge especially took the plan to heart.

Jaloni Cambridge, known for working in the gym on her offense, swapped shots for weights and is coming in stronger than fans have ever seen her.

"I got a lot of weight on me now. I can't even fit into my small clothes anymore," said Jaloni Cambridge. "I really made an emphasis to get stronger this year, and it'll definitely show on my body. I felt great, and the results with our strength coach, Claire. I mean, you should really see my numbers from last year to this year. I feel faster. I feel so much better than I did last year, and I'm healthier now.

"I'm definitely not the little Jaloni no more. I'm definitely the big one."

That strength means more durability inside the paint, a destination frequented by the agile point guard. Jaloni Cambridge is also focused on getting her teammates more involved on offense; that way, teams cannot focus solely on the now-junior.

Beyond the starting lineup, Ohio State does have questions around the team's depth. If all the positive offseason feelings from the team do pan out on the court, the attention will shift to what happens when the starters are getting a break.

The Buckeyes have 790 total college game minutes on the bench, and a majority of those came from now sophomore guard Bryn Martin. McGuff's side plays consistently with eight regular players.

Will McGuff give more time to forward Ella Hobbs and guard Seini Henry in their third seasons in the program or will one of the three freshmen earn the coach's trust and minutes on the court?

Answers to those questions, and the distance of the offensive gap left by Gray, will not take too long to find out. The UConn Huskies come to Columbus on Thursday, Nov. 12.

Mobilize your Website

View Site in Mobile | Classic

Share by: