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'Strong force on defense': How OSU freshman Elsa Lemmila has increased her playing time
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- 'Strong force on defense': How OSU freshman Elsa Lemmila has increased her playing time
The further Ohio State gets into the season, the more confidence coach Kevin McGuff is showing in freshman center Elsa Lemmila.
In the Buckeyes' 86-78 overtime victory against Iowa on Feb. 17 , McGuff kept Lemmila on the court from beginning of the fourth quarter until the final buzzer. The 34 minutes Lemmila recorded was a season high.
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Opting for Lemmila to remain in the game and defend Hannah Stuelke, Iowa's second team All-Big Ten center, showed McGuff's belief in the freshman.
Ohio State's Elsa Lemmila rebounds the ball against Iowa forward Hannah Stuelke.
Stuelke finished with 10 points and 5 rebounds, both below her season averages.
"We wanted (Stuelke) to have to score over Elsa," McGuff said. "She's such a great player, if you give her angles or she dribbles by you ... she finished at an extremely high rate. But I thought Elsa moved her feet, made her shoot over her so we could get her to miss."
With Lemmila playing, starting center Ajae Petty watched from the bench, something that rarely happened during the first half of the season.
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Lemmila entered her first year with the Buckeyes coming off an ACL injury she suffered while playing for Tapiolan Honka Club, based in her home country of Finland.
The injury kept Lemmila out of early practices at OSU. She didn't get back on to the court until September.
"She gets a little bit better each week," McGuff said. "She's still in a mode of coming off that injury in high school, of getting comfortable and not second-guessing certain things, but it gets a little bit better each week. So, I still think, even this year, there's a higher ceiling for her if she'll just stay focused."
The 6-6 Lemmila racked up solid minutes in non-conference play, but Petty, who stands 6-3, was still the clear No. 1 option at center – especially in big moments.
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Against Stanford , arguably the toughest non-conference opponent on Ohio State's regular-season schedule, Lemmila played only 13 minutes.
Lemmila's playing time was still limited as the Buckeyes began Big Ten play . She averaged just over 8 minutes in the first 7 conference games.
But there was a shift in the middle of January.
Ohio State's Elsa Lemmila averages 1.9 blocks per game, fourth in the Big Ten.
In Ohio State's statement win against Maryland, Lemmila recorded 5 rebound and 4 blocks in 23 minutes.
"Elsa (Lemmila) has improved so much, just even from a confidence standpoint, and as a team, we are seriously so proud of Elsa," Ohio State junior Cotie McMahon said. "The fact that we can count on her as a freshman is just something that not everybody has the opportunity to do, and it is really nice because we can literally count on her just cleaning up our mistakes."
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'On defense, I feel like that's where she really thrives'
One of the biggest reasons Lemmila is getting more playing time is her defense.
When Ohio State was in desperate need of a win following consecutive losses against top-five teams UCLA and USC , Lemmila secured the overtime victory against Minnesota.
She scored 4 of the Buckeyes' 13 points in overtime and grabbed the defensive rebound that kept Minnesota from gaining an extra possession while Ohio State was ahead 2 points.
"I just kept doing what I was doing, and what they told me to do, especially on defense," Lemmila said. "Making sure I guard the screens correctly, and guard the big girl correctly, just doing what I can"
Ohio State forward Cotie McMahon smiles as center Elsa Lemmila (12) and forward Taylor Thierry (2) help her up during overtime of Monday's win over Iowa.
Lemmila averages 1.9 blocks per game, fourth in the conference, and she has provided defensive sparks against top Big Ten centers Stuelke and Lauren Betts of UCLA.
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"Elsa makes reads that not a lot of freshmen can make," McMahon said. "On defense, I feel like that's where she really thrives, and she really locks in, and knows when to make the right play, and knows that she's capable of being a very strong force on defense."
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State freshman Elsa Lemmila boosted in rotation in Big Ten play
