On Jan. 11, 2026, Ohio State women’s basketball was the No. 19 team in the country when it traveled to College Park, Maryland to face the then No. 8 ranked Maryland Terrapins.
Now, on Feb. 15, 2026, the No. 20 ranked Terps travel to Columbus to face the No. 8 Buckeyes.
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The rankings and results flipped over the few weeks that followed the Buckeyes’ 89-76 win over the Terrapins, but Sunday pits the Big Ten rivals against each other with similar momentum.
What has changed for Maryland since their home loss, and who benefited the most from the week off for Ohio State?
Since January
It looked like Ohio State was in trouble in the first quarter of that eventual win over Maryland. The Buckeyes were down 12 and struggled to slow down head coach Brenda Frese’s Terrapins. After Ohio State surged ahead over the next three quarters to a comfortable victory, head coach Kevin McGuff’s side used that momentum to win seven of the next eight games, with a lone lopsided loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes stuffed in the middle.
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For Maryland it was a different story with four losses in the last eight games. The Terps defeated the USC Trojans after that loss to Ohio State but then went on a four-game losing streak against some of the best teams in the conference.
Maryland had their turn losing to the UCLA Bruins, like everyone else in the conference this season, and followed it up with a loss to the same Hawkeyes.
Then Maryland lost two home games to the Washington Huskies and Oregon Ducks, a flipped result of Ohio State’s last two games that featured two Buckeye wins in the Pacific Northwest. Since then, the Terps flipped a switch and head to Columbus with three straight victories, and none of them were particularly close.
The Terps won their last three games by 17.6 points per game. One of those came in a 19-point victory over the Penn State Nittany Lions, in College Park, but before that a trip to Nebraska and then Michigan ended with more impressive wins.
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The usual suspects for coach Frese led the way with guard Oluchi Okananwa’s 17.3 points, 4.7 assists and 3.7 steals per game in the last three victories. Senior guards Saylor Poffenbarger and Yarden Garzon also showed their veteran leadership. Poffenbarger averaged nearly a double-double with 10.3 points and 9.3 rebounds and Garzon led the team with 15.3 points per game.
For Ohio State, Maryland brings the same strengths that it had in January. Okananwa’s speed is also a major threat, which the Buckeyes were slightly guarded from in College Park due to foul trouble that allowed her to only play 30 minutes.
Also, Garzon will shoot the three. The former Indiana Hoosier Garzon went 5-for-10 against Ohio State, which is not something the Buckeyes can afford to repeat and expect the same final result.
Also, the Terrapins are a group of guards with size, although interior presence on offense is not as strong it means a likely negative rebounding margin. Frese’s side is second in the Big Ten with 42.5 rebounds per game, only slightly less than UCLA Bruins’ 42.8 boards.
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That is impressive and not at all surprising for Maryland, who does not have a 6-foot-7 center named Lauren Betts.
In January, Ohio State matched Maryland on the boards that day with 39 apiece, but Sunday will not have a fully healthy Kylee Kitts.
Kylee Kitts
After a quick stop in Newark, New Jersey to face the Big 12’s TCU Horned Frogs on Jan. 19, the Buckeyes returned to Big Ten play without forward Kylee Kitts. The redshirt forward hurt her shoulder in that win over TCU and only just returned a week ago in Ohio State’s win over the Oregon Ducks.
Kitts did not look up to game speed after she missed five conference games. The forward had eight minutes off the bench and had four fouls and a team high six turnovers.
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This week off for the Buckeyes benefited Kitts more than anyone. It gave the forward time to get back to game speed in team practice, an environment that reflects the speed that fans see on the court. Ohio State will need the big too because one of the reasons why the Buckeyes kept up with Maryland’s rebounds was the eight that Kitts grabbed in the win in College Park.
Against Maryland, Kitts hurt the Terps more than on the boards. She was second on the team with 18 points that included a 3-for-5 shooting afternoon from beyond the arc. If Kitts’ condition requires another limited performance like in Oregon, a smaller group of Buckeye guards will have to play close to mistake-free basketball to contend with a Maryland team that is not easy to beat twice in the same season.
Projected Lineups
Ohio State
G: Jaloni Cambridge
G: Chance Gray
G: Kennedy Cambridge
G: Ava Watson
C: Elsa Lemmilä
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Maryland
G: Oluchi Okananwa
G: Addi Mack
G: Yarden Garzon
F: Isimenme Ozzy-Momodu
F: Saylor Poffenbarger
Prediction
Ohio State will start slowly against Maryland for a second time, but it will not mean a double-digit first quarter deficit. The Buckeyes will stay close to the Terps for four quarters.
Point guard Jaloni Cambridge will be the difference but Elsa Lemmilä will have a bigger game to continue her recent stretch of strong performances inside. Nobody on the Terps roster will be able to completely stop the 6-foot-6 Finnish big.
LGHL Score Prediction: 77-76 Ohio State
How to Watch
How to Watch
Date: Sunday, February 15, 2026
Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
Where: Schottenstein Center, Columbus, Ohio
Television: FS1
Stream: FOX Sports App
