Ohio State will try to end 2 years of women's March Madness home-court heartbreak

Ohio State’s 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’s steady improvement this season continues this weekend. The Buckeyes began the season unranked, but finished 11th in the final Associated Press Top 25.

“Our attention to detail and focus on preparation have been as good as they’ve been in years. I think that’s what we’re going to have to hang our hat on this week,” 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’t make things easy on Ohio State again. Notre Dame has been to the Sweet 16 in its last 14 tournament trips.

“The last home game (an 88-86 overtime loss to Maryland), we didn’t 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,” sophomore guard Jaloni Cambridge said. “I don’t think there’s a disadvantage to it. It’s an advantage because we get to play on our home court. At the end of the day, it’s just another game.”

Guards on display

For those who enjoy watching guards, the regional in Columbus offers plenty of quality. Cambridge and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo were AP second-team All-America selections.

Hidalgo — a two-time ACC Player of the Year — 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’s Kaety L’Amoreaux was the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference player of the year after averaging 17.6 points and sinking 73 3-pointers.

Howard’s 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.

“I think this year we’ve 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,” 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.

“It will definitely be a family reunion, I can say that,” 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’s basketball history for a single season.

The Stags are also one of four teams in the field to have three players — Janelle Brown, Kaety L’Amoreaux, and Meghan Andersen — reach 1,000 points at the same school.

“We 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’ve evolved from last year to this year of being not only a high-volume in makes and 3s, but we’re also very efficient in doing so,” coach Carly Thibault-Dudonis said.

Fairfield is in the tournament for the third straight year and eighth time in school history.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness