Ohio State star Jaloni Cambridge knows her way around the basketball court, but when she struggles, she and her dad have a simple motto to remind her of what needs to be done.
“He always tells me, whatever game we are playing, ‘Whatever it takes’ and, ‘Do what we have to do to win,'” Cambridge told CBS Sports. “I kind of go off of that. Not just with my scoring, but I’ll get on the ground for my teammates, I’ll rebound, I’ll pass the ball. Anything I need to do to make sure we get the win.”
That effort was on full display even in the recent 76-75 loss to Maryland on Sunday. Cambridge gave her team a chance with 29 points on 50% shooting, along with 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal.
She has scored in double digits every game this season, including 15 performances with 20+ points. Cambridge and Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes, the nation’s leading scorer, are leading the country in 20+ point games against ranked opponents with six apiece.
Cambridge has become more consistent in the new year — she is averaging 25.6 points per game in January and February and has not scored less than 18 points in a game in 2026.
When Cotie McMahon transferred to Ole Miss last spring, many wondered whether Ohio State would still have the firepower to compete in the Big Ten and earn a top-16 seed in the NCAA tournament. After spending all of last season ranked in the top 15, the Buckeyes were unranked in the preseason.
But Cambridge’s emergence as one of the best offensive guards in the nation has Ohio State at No. 10 and sitting in third place in the Big Ten. And the bigger the spotlight gets, the better this sophomore performs.
Cambridge is putting in the work
Cambridge leads the Buckeyes in points and assists. Besides her Lego sets and a passion for interior design, she dedicates a lot of time to studying basketball. She is constantly talking about the game with friends and family, particularly her dad and her trainer, Marcus.
“(Marcus) is always sending me film,” Cambridge reported. “He is on my butt all the time about watching film and we always do it together.”
The work is already paying off. As coach Kevin McGuff puts it, she has a “rare gift of the combination of speed, quickness and basketball IQ.”
She started all 26 games for Ohio State her freshman season, but she became an even more important contributor this year. She went from averaging 15.4 points to 22.8 points per game, while her shooting percentage improved from 42.9% to 51.5%. Earlier this season, Cambridge became the first Ohio State player to score 25+ points in three consecutive games since WNBA guard Kelsey Mitchell did so with the Buckeyes during the 2016-2017 season.
“Just being more consistent in the gym,” she reported when asked about what helped with that improvement. “I knew the ball was going to be in my hands more this year, so being able to take that leadership role and just being aware of it and stepping up for the challenge. I feel like I’ve been able to do this my whole life.”
The A’ja Wilson experience
Cambridge often gets compared to Mitchell because of their speed and high-volume scoring, but this season, it was a different WBA star that left Cambridge starstruck. When the Buckeyes played against Illinois on Jan. 7, four-time MVP A’ja Wilson was sitting courtside.
She and her sister/teammate Kennedy are big fans of Wilson and had pretty much manifested this moment during the preseason. During media day, they were asked about what celebrity they would like to have sit courtside at a game and both sisters reported Wilson. When the day finally came, it was a surreal experience.
Cambridge might have been nervous to play in front of her idol, but she certainly didn’t show it. Cambridge scored 41 points to lead Ohio State to a 78-69 victory.
“I personally didn’t know what to say, and neither did my sister,” Cambridge reported. “When you idolize someone and they are right in you face, it’s like, what can you say? And you don’t want to be too weird, them thinking you are weird or whatever… I wasn’t even thinking about the 41 points. Her being there just brought out our inner child.”
The Illinois game was certainly memorable, but the Buckeyes have picked up a slew of quality victories over ranked opponents, including West Virginia, Maryland, TCU and Washington.
Ohio State has a real chance to make noise in March
Even when her team loses, Cambridge knows how to get something positive out of the experience and grow from it. After their seven-point loss to UCLA late December, she was adamant that her team had still proven something, both to themselves and to the outside world.
Women’s Bracketology: Vanderbilt stays a No. 2 seed in NCAA tournament projections despite upset of Texas
Connor Groel
“I was very proud of us, because playing the (then) No. 4 in the country, that’s hard to be close with them,” she reported. “That’s not easy to do and I was just proud of us because everyone didn’t think we were going to be here — where we are today. It speaks volumes to our coaching staff and ourselves, just wanting to be better at the end of the day.”
The way they are playing right now, it’s not far-fetched to think the Buckeyes can make it back to the Sweet 16, or potentially even the Elite Eight, after a two-year absence. They are currently No. 12 in scoring offense, and besides Cambridge, they have players like Chance Gray, who can be explosive any given night. On the other side of the court, sophomore center Elsa Lemmilä is in the top 10 nationally in blocks and Kennedy Cambridge is on the Naismith Women’s College Defensive Player of the Year watchlist.
According to CBS Sports bracketologist Connor Groel, Ohio State is currently a projected No. 3 seed for the NCAA Tournament. That being reported, the Buckeyes also have a chance to move to a No 2 seed because all four of their remaining games are Quad 1: No. 23 Minnesota, USC, No. 6 Michigan and No. 18 Michigan State.
