Friday, November 9, 2018 // TIP OFF 2018
6B 

Big Ten Breakdown: Iowa and Maryland the teams to beat

With 
football 
season 
dwindling, there is only one 
thing that can fill the void that 
will be left in the hearts of Big 
Ten fans across the country: 
basketball – and maybe a little 
bit of hockey. 
Coming 
off 
its 
seventh 
straight 20-plus win season 
– the sixth straight under 
coach Kim Barnes Arico – the 
Michigan women’s basketball 
team is primed to continue 
its recent success in what 
should be a wide open Big Ten 
race. If Barnes Arico achieves 
another 20-win season this 
year, she will become the first 
Wolverines basketball coach, 
men’s or women’s, to record 
seven-straight 
20-plus 
win 

seasons.
Michigan, which went 10-6 
in the Big Ten and 22-9 overall 
last season, is coming off of a 
sixth-place finish in the Big 
Ten and a second-round exit 
in the NCAA Tournament. To 
reach their goal of the first Big 
Ten title in school history, the 
Wolverines will have to get 
through the likes of defending-
Big Ten champions Ohio State, 
perennial powerhouse No. 9 
Maryland and an up-and-comer 
in No. 13 Iowa. 
Ohio State 
Last 
season: 
Big 
Ten 
champions (13-3, 27-6)
Coming off its conference-
leading 
fifteenth 
Big 
Ten 
championship – its second in 
a row – Ohio State will be in 
a different position from last 
year. It is going to be hard for 

the Buckeyes to move on after 
losing all five starters from 
last season to either graduation 
or transfers, including three-
time Big Ten Player of the 
Year Kelsey Mitchell. In fact, 
just four players return from 
Ohio State’s 2017-18 campaign: 
Waterman (3.5 points per game), 
senior guard Karlie Cronin (0.1 
points per game), junior guard 
Jensen Caretti (2.4 points per 
game) and sophomore forward 
Savitha Jayaraman (0.5 points 
per game). 
The Buckeyes, though, will 
not lack college experience; 
they bring in a plethora of 
graduate transfers – five to 
be 
exact. 
Graduate 
guards 
Carmen 
Grande 
and 
Carly 
Santoro should have the most 
immediate impact – they have 
combined for over 150 starts 

in their collegiate careers and 
scored 11.5 and 12.8 points per 
game last season, respectively. 
Santoro 
also 
averaged 
8.7 
rebounds per game, and Grande 
was second in the nation with 
9.2 assists per game last season. 
Another likely contributor, 
graduate 
guard 
Ashanti 
Abshaw, 
who 
averaged 
17.1 
points per game in her three 
seasons 
at 
Cleveland 
State, 
injured her ACL in late October 
and will be out for the season. 
Ohio State beat Michigan 
96-87 in their lone matchup last 
year and will travel to Michigan 
this season on Jan. 20.
No. 9 Maryland
 Last season: Second-place 
finish in the Big Ten (12-4, 
25-7) 
Since joining the Big Ten 
ahead of the 2014-2015 season, 

the Terrapins held at least a 
share of the Big Ten title in 
each of their first three seasons 
before finishing second in the 
conference last year. 
Maryland 
coach 
Brenda 
Freese, who has been with the 
team since its days in the ACC, 
has led the Terrapins to the 
NCAA Tournament in 14 of 
her 16 seasons in College Park 
– including all four seasons 
since Maryland joined the Big 
Ten. While last year may have 
been seen as a step down for 
the Terrapins, Freese’s squad 
will look to bounce back in a 
big way after losing just three 
players – only one of whom was 
a consistent starter. 
Similar to last year, Maryland 
will place a heavy workload on 

BENNETT BRAMSON
Daily Sports Writer

RUCHITA IYER/Daily
The Ohio State basketball team finished with a 13-3 Big Ten record last season, winning the conference for the second straight year. But the Buckeyes lost much of their production heading into 2018-19.

See ROSTER, Page 7B

After winning the conference last season, Ohio State seems to have taken a step back entering this year

