BIG TEN CONFERENCE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT

March 6, 2026

Kevin McGuff

Elsa Lemmila

Jaloni Cambridge

Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Ohio State Buckeyes

Postgame Press Conference

Ohio State - 60, Minnesota - 55

THE MODERATOR: We'll go ahead and get started with the first question.

Q. The first time -- well, the last time you played against Minnesota only forced nine turnovers. That was your lowest mark of the season. Today you forced 21 and that was Minnesota's season high in terms of turnovers. What was the difference today defensively?

KEVIN McGUFF: Two things. I thought we were a little more effective with our full-court pressure, but I also thought in the half court, our guards were really pesky today. Ava, Kennedy, Jaloni, Chance really had good ball pressure, and I thought that disrupted them a little bit.

Q. I felt like that was sort of a clash of old school and new school. They were a little bit more of an old fashioned Big Ten team. You're kind of the new style. How do you impose your style of play on a team like that?

KEVIN McGUFF: Yeah. No, I think it's a good question and a good point. The first time we played them they won the battle of old school, new school, and they beat us at their place, and deservedly so. Today, I thought we got the pace going a little bit more. I also thought -- Sophie Hart was amazing the first quarter, and I thought Elsa really picked up her defense and her overall presence around the basket, and I think that had a huge impact on the game.

They're good. Like I say, give Minnesota credit. They have got an excellent team. I think they have a chance to play really well in March Madness. So it's a really good win for us.

Q. Elsa, touching on what your coach just mentioned, you were able to bang with Sophie down low and really impose your physicality, especially in the second half. What was your mindset going into that second half helping to control the paint, the glass, and everything -- in that painted area down low?

ELSA LEMMILA: Yeah, so my position coach pulled me and the other bigs aside at halftime and just really broke it down that this is what you have to do because we weren't executing how we were supposed to in the first half. I think we did a lot better in the second half. So that definitely helped.

Q. Jaloni, for you, it seemed like the perimeter defense, again, was just really strong today. Minnesota didn't hit a three-pointer until the final two minutes of the third quarter. What can you say about how you guys played today, especially with that intensity?

JALONI CAMBRIDGE: We just had great effort. Way better than last time we played them. They just kind of kicked it at us when we played them last time, so we knew that we had to come out here and give it all that we had.

Q. Can you speak of a Ava's game and Chance's game this afternoon, how they're always so impactful in your offense?

KEVIN McGUFF: Yeah, I think that we did a really nice job sharing the ball today overall. We ended with 17 assists, and those two in particular have a great feel for the game and really share the ball. Jaloni did a great job of drawing a lot of attention, sharing the ball. And Ava made a huge, huge three there late in the game, one of the biggest shots that we had today.

I thought our perimeter play was really good, probably more so than our offense. I thought our perimeter play on defense was really significantly improved from when the first time we played them and had a huge impact on us winning the game.

Q. Jaloni, looking ahead to UCLA, they obviously have a very talented backcourt. You played very well the first matchup against them. What is your mindset going against other elite guards?

JALONI CAMBRIDGE: The same thing do I every day, giving everything that I got to help my team win.

Q. Kevin, you guys play UCLA now, which was a really tight game last time out. They have a lot of size inside. How important is it going to be being really efficient inside of the paint and also what are the keys to beating a team like the Bruins?

KEVIN McGUFF: No, they have got a great team. They're in the midst of an incredible season. We played them once. We played pretty well, and they came out with the win. But they're terrific. They present a lot of problems just with their -- the combination of size and skill. They're one of the biggest teams in the country. Not only Lauren Betts and as good as she is, but across the line they're really long. So we'll have to do some things to try to contend with kind of a mismatch from a size standpoint.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you.