On Wednesday, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame unveiled its 25-player watchlist for Defensive Player of the Year. The list included Ohio State women’s basketball guard Kennedy Cambridge’s name, which is no surprise.
When Cambridge is on the court, the Buckeyes’ defense is better and the statistics back it up. Cambridge is first in the Big Ten and fourth in the nation with four steals per game and the junior’s 75.4 is the lowest defensive rating in the conference.
What about the guard’s offense? Cambridge’s impact, especially with a key injury on the roster, is key to Ohio State’s success.
Ohio State clearly missed redshirt freshman forward Kylee Kitts on Sunday. Out with a shoulder injury, the Buckeyes’ leading rebounder left a hole inside the paint that head coach Kevin McGuff’s side desperately needed against the interior duo of forward Hannah Stuelke and sophomore center Ava Heiden.
Take away the first couple minutes of the first quarter and it was never really a close game.
Kitts and Cambridge have different skillsets. For Kitts, she leads the Buckeyes with 7.1 rebounds per game while Cambridge’s steals frustrate opponents. However, both of the athletes’ strengths end the same way — extra possessions for the Buckeyes.
On Sunday, in Ohio State’s 91-70 defeat, Cambridge showed that she brings more to the team than swiping the ball away and hitting easy baskets on the fast break. Cambridge’s half court offense has the capacity to frustrate people the same way steals do on defense.
Offensively, the Buckeyes looked stale against Iowa. After point guard Jaloni Cambridge brought the ball up the court, usually center Elsa Lemmilä received a pass and then stood at the top of the key while any of the four guards attempt to get open. Then a screen by Lemmilä usually followed up her pass to a guard.
At that point, Lemmilä could run to the basket, a shooter could get open or Jaloni Cambridge made something happen on her own. Iowa had no problems stopping it and Ohio State never had a quarter where it hit even 40% of its shots.
“If we’re going to have to play a little smaller with Kylee [Kitts] out, we’ve got to be much scrappier, use our speed and quickness,” McGuff said after the loss on Sunday. “And we did not do that today.”
At the start of the third quarter, Kennedy Cambridge showed scrappiness on offense, and in a different way than her sister Jaloni. The guard went to the basket and earned a trip to the free throw line. Cambridge has a knack for getting to the charity stripe because most of the junior’s offensive impact comes when she is inside, under duress.
The numbers back it up. Cambridge takes 3.2 free throws per game, which pales in comparison to her younger sister who takes 4.6 on average. Look deeper and Kennedy Cambridge shoots a free throw every 2.25 baskets she shoots, which leads the team.
Against Iowa, Kennedy Cambridge had a team high six free throws. They came from the guard going to the rim and taking contact.
It is similar to the play of former Ohio State forward Cotie McMahon, who made a name for herself because of her ability to earn whistles and go straight at defenders. In stints on Sunday, Cambridge’s play ended the same way as her predecessor.
”We don’t have Cotie McMahon. Let’s just put it out there,” Kennedy told Land-Grant Holy Land in the offseason. “She was so dominant, and I’m not going to be Cotie McMahon at all, but there has to be a lot more dominance for me on the offensive side. So, I had to work on these things. I have to get better at these things, and I have to show up more than I did last year, because it’s not all about defense. I have to contribute on both sides of the floor.”
In the first half against Iowa, that aggressive play was not there for the Buckeyes. Ohio State had two foul calls go their way, compared to the 10 for the Hawkeyes. Kennedy Cambridge earned two alone in the third quarter.
Efficiency-wise, Kennedy Cambridge is not the best free throw shooter on the team. The guard hits 61.2% of her shots from the stripe, which is the second worst of the five starting Buckeyes. But free throws are not the only benefit of hearing a whistle. It puts defenders on their heels and makes opposing teams replace players who pick them up, especially early in the game.
Now, more offensive play from Kennedy Cambridge would not have saved the Buckeyes in Iowa City. Defensively, Ohio State had no answer for the Stuelke/Heiden duo, but the offense also did not challenge the interior bigs all that much. Iowa head coach Jan Jensen never had to worry about putting Stuelke on the bench to avoid fouls because the senior only had two whistles go against her in 30 minutes.
“She [Kennedy Cambridge] really attacked off the dribble,” McGuff said following Ohio State’s win over the Indiana Hoosiers on Thursday. “She did a good job finding her spots to attack them, and was really effective. And we want that out of her, you know, she’s really grown as a player both ends of the floor, and a lot of people see her defense, and rightfully so they talk about it, but she’s also obviously a really effective offensive player.”
With Kitts out, and the inside vulnerable, more Kennedy Cambridge in the half court offense gives Ohio State another person to attack the basket. Jaloni Cambridge leads the offense, and guard Chance Gray and center Elsa Lemmilä have big offensive games in support, but adding a third consistent scorer who gets to the line and forces defenses to adjust could be the scrappiness McGuff said his team needs with Kitts out of the lineup.
