A lot is placed on the shoulders of No. 19 Ohio State women’s basketball point guard Jaloni Cambridge. The guard carries the Buckeyes on her shoulders metaphorically, but on offense, it’s literal. In 15 games, Cambridge led Ohio State in scoring in 10 of the Buckeyes’ 15 games, and Sunday was no different. The point guard had a stat line that, for her standards, was an OK day with 18 points, 4 assists, and 2 steals.
For Ohio State to compete against teams at and above their level, the Buckeyes need more. Jaloni and her older sister, Kennedy Cambridge, lead in points, assists, and steals, and still have the occasional game where they also lead the team in rebounds. On Sunday, the Scarlet and Gray got help from another Gray — senior guard Chance Gray.
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With four minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights held a two-point lead over the Buckeyes. At the same time, Gray sat at 1-of-4 shooting, including three missed shots from beyond the arc. For head coach Kevin McGuff, there were options on the bench if he wanted a fresh player in the game, but McGuff’s trust in the senior means that, despite the ups and downs, Gray was staying in the game.
“She [Gray] didn’t start out as good as she had seen, maybe she did at Purdue,” McGuff told reporters. “But I have a lot of confidence in her that as long as she continues to A, take good shots, B, get balance in her game, meaning get around the basket, get to the free throw line, and then shoot threes, that the shots will fall for her.”
Gray rewarded McGuff and the Buckeyes with just that. With 1:14 remaining in the first half, Jaloni Cambridge grabbed a defensive rebound and launched a pass up the court to a sprinting Gray. The ball went a little past the hoop, but Gray kept it in bounds. That allowed the defense to get back, and Gray hit a free throw while she was hit in the face. The senior did not lie on the ground and hold her face. Gray sat up, screamed in celebration, and hit a free throw to cap off an eight-point Ohio State run. A run in which Rutgers never recovered.
That kind of moment turned into more moments in the second half. Gray continued to attack the basket and added a three-point shot for good measure in a 17-point day for the guard, her best against a Big Ten opponent in the 2025-26 season.
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“I think the and-one kind of started that,” Gray told reporters. “And then I was getting a lot of the curls and pinned down, so I just gave what they were giving me.”
Rutgers’ size gave the Buckeyes issues at first, and the two teams traded baskets and runs throughout the first half. It was that play from Gray, and second-half layups and trips to the free-throw line by Gray that helped turn what looked like a potential upset into a comfortable 71-49 Ohio State victory.
Last season, Gray was one-dimensional on offense. The guard sat back, and when either Jaloni Cambridge or forward Cotie McMahon drew the attention of multiple defenders, Gray was there to attempt a three-point shot, with limited results as the season went on.
Sunday was indicative of McGuff unleashing other areas of Gray’s game. The shooting guard slid into point guard for spells, which gave Jaloni Cambridge freedom to move without the ball. When Gray is not on the court, sophomore Ava Watson and freshman Bryn Martin enter the game and give the Buckeyes more on defense, even though that is also improving for Gray.
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The senior has an 85.7 defensive rating, the statistic that measures how much an opposing team scores on 100 possessions against a player. That is a career high, compared to a 98.7 average rating in the three previous seasons across Gray’s time with the Oregon Ducks and one previous season in Columbus.
Gray complements the play of the Cambridge sisters, who have their hands in nearly every possession on both sides of the ball. Now, instead of waiting for a shot to fall, Gray is free to create her own opportunities. Ohio State needs more of that play on offense to continue the young team’s growth. Should that play become commonplace, it gives the other four players on the court more room to work, especially this week as the Big Ten ramps up with games against a nearly ranked Illinois Fighting Illini and a ranked Maryland Terrapins.
