Even in their loss to Iowa on Monday, the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes demonstrated the dominant defense they’ve displayed all season long. Their full-court press showed it was capable of forcing turnovers when they were desperately needed, even against the No. 2 scoring offense in the country and an All-World point guard in Caitlin Clark. It allowed the Buckeyes to go on a 10-0 run over the final 5:56 of the third quarter and nearly take the lead.
Nevertheless, Ohio State is undefeated no longer and now its next opponent has replaced it as the No. 2 team in ESPN’s Bracketology. That would be the No. 6 Indiana Hoosiers. Buckeye head coach Kevin McGuff said on The Next’s Locked on Women’s Basketball that Jacy Sheldon will be back from her foot injury “very soon,” but that might not mean for Thursday’s game at Indiana. So the Buckeyes are in real danger of losing two in a row after their 19-0 start.
The Hoosiers are coming off six straight wins, including three over ranked teams over their last four games. Grace Berger returned in style by helping them beat now-No. 10 Maryland 68-61 on Jan. 12, they defeated now-No. 22 Illinois on Jan. 18 and, the same night Ohio State suffered its first loss, they took down No. 13 Michigan.
It’s been quite the season for the…
