Ohio State Overcomes Interior Challenge To Advance To Semifinals Of Big Ten Tournament

Over the past two seasons, No. 11 Ohio State (26-6) has had difficulties overcoming Minnesota.

In the regular season this year, the Buckeyes had one of their worst games of the season against the Golden Gophers, losing 74-61. Even last year, when Minnesota went just 8-10 in Big Ten play, the Buckeyes needed overtime to defeat the Golden Gophers 87-84.

The source of the Buckeyes’ struggles against Minnesota may simply be 6-5 center Sophie Hart. 

In the Buckeyes’ narrow 2024-25 win over Minnesota, Hart went for 21 points while shooting 10-15 from the floor.

Earlier this year, Hart had another standout performance. She went for 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Golden Gophers to the 13-point victory.

Early on in Ohio State’s 60-55 win over Minnesota in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament on Friday, it seemed like the Buckeyes would be doomed by Hart again.

By the middle of the second quarter, Hart had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. According to sophomore center Elsa Lemmilä, Hart’s strong start prompted a message from assistant coach Ryan Murray.

“Ryan, my position coach, took all the bigs aside and told us exactly what he wanted us to do because we obviously did not execute very well defensively in the first half against her,” Lemmilä said.

Murray had Lemmilä and the Buckeyes’ other frontcourt players front Hart, and that approach worked because the Golden Gophers’ center was kept much quieter the rest of the way.

In the second half, Hart was held to just two points on 0-1 shooting from the field. 

Junior guard Kennedy Cambridge credited Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff and Lemmilä for the team containing Hart in the win.

“McGuff did a good job of breaking down (the defensive strategy against Hart) for us last night, and I think Elsa did a great job in the second half, fixing what she did wrong in the first. I think she only scored two points in the second half, and it was off two free throws, which I didn’t think was a foul, but I think Elsa really came out with defensive energy in the second half.”

Lemmilä also made an impact on the other end of the court. The Buckeyes’ center had 17 points on 8-15 shooting in the win, matching a team-high in scoring.

After the game, McGuff said the sophomore center has improved several aspects of her game over the course of this season, making her an important pairing alongside sophomore point guard Jaloni Cambridge.

“She’s defended, she’s rebounded,” McGuff said. “She’s really getting off of ball screens and catching and finishing better than she was at the beginning of the year. It’s important because people have to commit a lot to stopping Jaloni off the screen, so when Elsa rolls, it gives us another option to get her the ball.”

As tough as Hart has been against the Buckeyes, their next opponent, UCLA, provides an even stiffer challenge. UCLA center Lauren Betts was named the Big Ten’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. She is averaging 16.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and two blocks per game this year.

According to McGuff, the Buckeyes’ experience against Hart could help them tomorrow in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, against the Bruins, who are still unbeaten against Big Ten foes.

“(Hart and Betts) are a little different, but it’s similar in that they’re two great post players, who are a tough match-up, so we certainly got a preview of what it’s going to be like tomorrow,” McGuff said.

Lemmilä said she hopes to get out to a better start than she did against Hart when she goes against the Bruins’ superstar tomorrow at 2 p.m.

“I hope that I can skip the bad defense part and go straight to playing good defense” Lemmilä said, “she’s an amazing player and is really hard to guard, so that’ll be key.”