Since the 2021-22 season, Ohio State women’s basketball has not excelled inside the paint. When bigs like Illinois’ Kendall Bostic, Indiana’s Mackenzie Holmes or Michigan’s Naz Hillmon hit the court, a double-double was all but guaranteed.
Also, the Buckeyes seemed to look at steals as more vital to earning extra possessions than rebounds.
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Last season, that began to change. Through high school recruiting, the Buckeyes began adding size and strength inside the key. Elsa Lemmilä is a key piece of that change and with season two upcoming for the center, Ohio State’s future has some hope in the interior.
Name: Elsa Lemmilä
Position: Center
Class: Sophomore
High School: Tapiolan Honka Club (Espoo, Finland)
2024-25 Stats: 4.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.9 bpg, .505 FG%, .111 3FG%, .661 FT%
Last Season
Before the 24-25 season, head coach Kevin McGuff said he saw Lemmilä as a star for Ohio State, eventually. Lemmilä came into the team and showed flashes of that star power throughout her 32 appearances.
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Lemmilä led the team with 60 blocks, the most since Stephanie Mavunga had 88 for the Buckeyes in the 17-18 season. At 6-foot-6, blocks come easier for Lemmilä, but as a freshman the concern is adjusting to the game and avoiding fouls when playing aggressively near the basket.
In the final 11 games of the regular season, when Lemmilä’s minutes jumped to 19.6 minutes per game (above the center’s 15.3 season average), the freshman only averaged 1.6 fouls and 2.4 blocks per game. When Lemmilä was around the basket, opponents did not run into the usual Ohio State interior that welcomed strong paint presence. Lemmilä ended the season fourth in the Big Ten in both blocks and blocks per game (1.9).
The way to know if head coach Kevin McGuff trusts a player is not only the total minutes but where a player earns that time. As the season moved into the conference schedule, Lemmilä played in more high pressure situations. Take a Feb. 13 matchup against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Lemmilä was on the court in overtime, with Ohio State holding onto a one-possession lead.
After Lemmilä hit a layup with less than 10 seconds remaining, the center made the game-winning block on the perimeter with the Golden Gophers down three points. It gave Ohio State an 87-84 victory. In the next game, Lemmilä played a season high 35 minutes in an overtime win over the Iowa Hawkeyes where she had three blocks in the Buckeye win.
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McGuff also trusted the freshman against UCLA Bruins 6-foot-7 center Lauren Betts. Despite a 65-52 defeat, Lemmilä had eight points and six rebounds in 18 minutes against arguably the most dominant big in the nation.
In the postseason, Lemmilä’s minutes dropped but injury held the big from playing at her full potential. In the offseason, Lemmilä had successful foot surgery, a similar procedure former Buckeye guard Jacy Sheldon had after the 22-23 season.
What to Expect
Lemmilä made it through the first year of NCAA basketball successfully. With that comes experience in the conference and another year of McGuff’s offense in Lemmilä‘s head.
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All of the benefits of being 6-foot-6 will be there for Lemmilä. The paint will be a dangerous place for opponents to try and score and Lemmilä will pull in defenders when the Buckeyes have the ball.
What Ohio State fans did not see a lot of is the shooting prowess of the European big. Labeled a perfectionist by her mom, Lemmilä took only nine three-point shots last year and hit one. The reason is confidence. Because the shots did not fall right away, Lemmilä shied away from taking them. Practice tells a different story.
“Elsa [Lemmilä], who can shoot the three as well,” said Chance Gray. “We’re yelling at her in practice, ‘shoot the ball. Do not hesitate’, because we’re all confident in her.”
If the shots fall, or Lemmilä can look past the perfectionist mindset from deep and keep shooting until they do, it will bring another level to Ohio State’s offense.
Prediction
Last season, Lemmilä had the benefit of learning from mostly the bench and playing behind graduate forward Ajae Petty. Now, Lemmilä is the likely No. 1 big on the depth chart for McGuff and the Buckeyes.
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With increased minutes, fans will see more production from Lemmilä. It is not outside of the realm of possibility to see Lemmilä get more than 80 blocks and competes for a spot on the Big Ten’s All-Defensive Team.
There is also an intriguing pairing with either transfer forward Kylee Kitts or redshirt freshman Ella Hobbs. Lemmilä and whoever pairs alongside of her could flip a once glaring weakness of Ohio State into a strength. While it may not compete with the UCLA Bruins’ frontcourt, it has the makings of a top-3 interior defense.
However, the Buckeyes are a young team and the early Big Ten schedule may show the usual problems of a younger group of players. Namely mistakes, missed assignments, turnovers, etc. Should the Buckeyes identify and correct those issues as the season progresses, and players do not miss many games due to injury, the makings are there for a successful season in the paint for Lemmilä and the Scarlet and Gray.
Highlights
Watch some of the key plays made by the freshman center in her first season.
