In the offseason, Ohio State women's basketball focused on improving their interior game through the transfer portal and freshmen class. On Monday, forward Ajae Petty won the Big Ten Player of the Week honor, showing that the work to accelerate the Scarlet and Gray's post-play is working.
The Buckeyes traveled to the Daytona Beach Classic on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, defeating the Old Dominion Monarchs and Utah State Aggies in the process.
Against the Monarchs on Thursday, Petty was the focal point of Ohio State's offense with the former Kentucky Wildcat leading the team with 24 points and 11 rebounds. The double-double was her first as a member of the Buckeyes and the eighth game of her career scoring at least 20 points.
Petty was the No. 1 target for freshman point guard Jaloni Cambridge, who found Petty with five of her six assists. With Old Dominion playing wide coverage, Petty had room to catch passes, make moves, and hit layups.
On Friday, against the Aggies, Petty continued where she left off against Old Dominion. Petty scored 17 points and had nine rebounds.
Minutes-wise, head coach Kevin McGuff has mostly split the time between Petty and freshman center Elsa Lemmila leading into the Daytona Beach Classic. However, with Petty's effectiveness, McGuff kept Petty in for 26 minutes against the Monarchs and 23 against the Aggies, both season highs in her lone season with the Scarlet and Gray.
It was a holiday weekend of games that showed Petty is gaining more of the trust of McGuff, leading to more trust in the Buckeyes' offense.
In both games, Ohio State was dominant in the paint, thanks to the play of Petty. Thursday, the Buckeyes outscored the Monarchs in the paint 50-30 and out-rebounded the Virginia side 40-34.
Then on Friday, the Buckeyes outscored the Aggies 58-14 and outrebounded 51-33. Compare the rebounding, especially to previous seasons of Ohio State basketball and the Buckeyes grab over 11 more rebounds per game this season compared to the 23-24 campaign.
The Player of the Week honor is the first for the program since Cotie McMahon won it following a 33-point, 12-rebound, game against the Iowa Hawkeyes in January. Overall, only two Buckeyes won weekly honors last season, with Celeste Taylor picking up the other Player of the Week award on Dec. 4.
Now Petty has the chance to show what she, and Ohio State's increased interior presence, can do against a ranked opponent when the No. 22 Illinois Fighting Illini travel to Columbus on Sunday. On the Illini roster is forward Kendall Bostic who averages 16.3 points and 15.6 rebounds against Ohio State in four previous games.
Ohio State and Illinois tip off Sunday at 4 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.