Ohio State’s women’s basketball team gets one more afternoon at home to shake off its first loss of the season. The No. 17/19 Buckeyes (3-1) host FDU (2-2) on Sunday at 1 p.m. inside the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, in a game broadcast on B1G+ and AM 1460, Ohio State’s athletics department announced.
Sunday’s game is the annual Our Honor Defend Military Appreciation game, according to Ohio State. Veterans and active-duty military members receive 20% off at the Team Shop and concession stands when they present a military badge or ID, proceeds from Our Honor Defend gear support military-connected scholarships for Ohio State students, and first responder vehicles will be parked outside the arena’s northwest corner for fans to see up close, the university said.
The Buckeyes suffered their first loss of the season on Thursday night, an 87-55 decision against No. 4 UConn, Ohio State reported. The teams went toe-to-toe in the first half before UConn’s shooting took over. Jaloni Cambridge led Ohio State with 21 points — her third 20-point game of the season — and Ava Watson added 13, according to the university.
Two Buckeyes lead the Big Ten in defensive categories entering Sunday. After four steals against UConn, Kennedy Cambridge is tied for the conference lead with 16 steals this season (4.0 per game), and Elsa Lemmilä’s three blocks against the Huskies left her tied for the league lead with 11 blocks (2.8 per game), Ohio State reported as of Friday afternoon.
FDU arrives on a two-game win streak, Ohio State reported. The Knights opened with road losses at Baylor (87-66) and No. 6 Texas (85-65), then earned home wins over East Stroudsburg (82-46) and Manhattan (58-55). Reese Downey (12.8 points per game) and Leah Crosby (10.5 points, a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game) lead FDU in scoring, according to Ohio State’s preview.
The Knights carry real expectations of their own. FDU was picked to win the Northeast Conference in the league’s preseason poll, and Crosby and Rebecca Osei-Owusu were each named to the Preseason All-NEC Team, Ohio State reported. Downey was named an NEC Prime Performer and Ally Kaminski the NEC Rookie of the Week for opening week, according to the university.
Sunday is the first meeting between Ohio State and FDU in series history, Ohio State said — a clean-slate matchup between a Big Ten team protecting its home floor and a conference favorite from New Jersey playing its third ranked road opponent in four games.
FDU’s most recent win showed the Knights can close a tight game on the road in their own building. The Knights held off Manhattan 58-55 on Thursday night at the Bogota Savings Bank Center, led by a double-double from Rebecca Osei-Owusu, FDU’s athletics department reported. That is the same Osei-Owusu who joined Crosby on the Preseason All-NEC Team — the interior presence Ohio State’s frontcourt, led by Lemmilä’s shot-blocking, will be assigned to contain.
The game also continues a deliberate opening stretch for the Buckeyes: a six-game homestand to start the season, with the UConn test in the middle of it. Ohio State went toe-to-toe with the No. 4 Huskies for a half on Thursday before the game broke open, Ohio State reported — the kind of half that tells a coaching staff its defense and its star guard can hold a level, and the kind of second half that tells it how far the level still is. Sunday’s job is simpler: protect home court against a good mid-major, bank the win, and close the homestand on the front foot.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What is confirmed, from Ohio State’s athletics department: tip-off is 1 p.m. Sunday at the Schottenstein Center on B1G+, it is the Military Appreciation game, and Ohio State students are admitted free with a BuckID. What Sunday will show is how the Buckeyes respond to Thursday’s 32-point loss — whether the defense that produced the Big Ten’s steal and block leaders travels against a smaller, confident opponent. The Buckeyes’ homestand has already produced a ranked test, as NewsForce247 covered in our report on Ohio State’s 2-1 hockey win over No. 1 Wisconsin, and the football team steadied itself Saturday in its 28-19 win over Northwestern.
What happens next is the close of the homestand: Sunday’s game is the fifth of a six-game home stretch to open the season, and a win sends the Buckeyes forward at 4-1 with their only blemish against the No. 4 team in the country.
Photo: JonRidinger, CC BY-SA