COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) 鈥� Home court has not been an advantage for Ohio State in its recent appearances in the women’s .
The Buckeyes have been eliminated in the second round the past two years even while playing in the friendly confines of the Schottenstein Center.
Ohio State鈥檚 quest to at least get back to the Sweet 16 begins Saturday when the third-seeded Buckeyes face No. 14 seed Howard. The winner will face either No. 6 seed Notre Dame or 11th-seeded Fairfield on Monday for the right to advance in the Fort Worth 1 Regional.
Coach Kevin McGuff hopes his squad鈥檚 steady improvement this season continues this weekend. The Buckeyes began the season unranked, but finished 11th in the final Associated Press Top 25.
鈥淥ur attention to detail and focus on preparation have been as good as they鈥檝e been in years. I think that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going to have to hang our hat on this week,鈥� McGuff said.
The Buckeyes (26-7) were seeded second in 2024 before losing to Duke in the second round. They were the No. 4 seed last year before Tennessee’s 82-67 victory in the round of 32.
The selection committee didn鈥檛 make things easy on Ohio State again. Notre Dame has been to the Sweet 16 in its last 14 tournament trips.
鈥淭he last home game (an 88-86 overtime loss to Maryland), we didn鈥檛 get to pull it out the way we wanted to. Hopefully, we get the next two opportunities to make it a good one and just go out and have fun,鈥� sophomore guard Jaloni Cambridge said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a disadvantage to it. It鈥檚 an advantage because we get to play on our home court. At the end of the day, it鈥檚 just another game.鈥�
Guards on display
For those who enjoy watching guards, the regional in Columbus offers plenty of quality. Cambridge and Notre Dame鈥檚 Hannah Hidalgo were AP second-team All-America selections.
Hidalgo 鈥� a two-time ACC Player of the Year 鈥� is third in Division I in scoring (25.2 points per game). The junior also leads the nation in steals with 173.
Cambridge is seventh in scoring (22.8 ppg). Her sister, junior Kennedy Cambridge, is third with 128 steals.
Fairfield鈥檚 Kaety L鈥橝moreaux was the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year after averaging 17.6 points and sinking 73 3-pointers.
Howard鈥檚 Ariella Henigan was the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference rookie of the year, averaging 9.0 points.
Irish feeling momentum
Notre Dame has won nine of its last 11. It is playing away from home on the first weekend for only the second time since 2015. The Fighting Irish were projected at one point to be a ninth or 10th seed midway through the season.
Notre Dame (22-10) beat four teams that made the NCAA field during its late-season run and averaged 74.8 points while shooting 45.9% from the field.
鈥淚 think this year we鈥檝e faced a lot of adversity, and now being in a different environment, we just get to showcase how more resilient we are as a team,鈥� guard Cassandre Prosper said.
Homecoming
Howard (26-7) is led by MEAC player of the year Zennia Thomas. The senior forward and Cleveland native leads the team in scoring (15.2 points) and rebounds (8.0) in her second year after transferring from the University of Kentucky.
鈥淚t will definitely be a family reunion, I can say that,鈥� Thomas said.
Thomas and Kennedy Cambridge were teammates at Kentucky, but will face off on Saturday.
The Bison are seeking their first NCAA Tournament victory in their seventh appearance. They’re eighth in Division I in 3-point defense (26.1%) and face an Ohio State squad that has made at least 10 3-pointers in seven games since Jan. 11.
3-point leaders
Fairfield (28-4) leads the nation with 11.4 3-pointers made per game and its 364 total ranks 14th in NCAA Division I women鈥檚 basketball history for a single season.
The Stags are also one of four teams in the field to have three players 鈥� Janelle Brown, Kaety L鈥橝moreaux, and Meghan Andersen 鈥� reach 1,000 points at the same school.
鈥淲e are a unique matchup in that all five on the floor can score, and we have so many weapons, especially from the 3-point line. So being No. 1 in the country in 3-point makes, and we鈥檝e evolved from last year to this year of being not only a high-volume in makes and 3s, but we鈥檙e also very efficient in doing so,鈥� coach Carly Thibault-Dudonis said.
Fairfield is in the tournament for the third straight year and eighth time in school history.
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