Since Aug. 6, 2025, Ohio State women’s basketball fans have known of one non-conference game on the Buckeyes 2026-27 schedule. That is when Ohio State and the UConn Huskies announced a home-and-home series for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons. On Thursday, the Chase Center in San Francisco, California, announced the second. On Dec. 20, the Buckeyes will face the Stanford Cardinal at the Bay Area Women’s Classic.
This matchup is not the first time that head coach Kevin McGuff’s side will play in this annual doubleheader, and the first time, too, was against Stanford. Two years from the day that Ohio State and Stanford match up this season, the Buckeyes made easy work of the now-ACC side. The Scarlet and Gray won 84-59 and had six players score in double figures. Of those six, four made it onto a WNBA team, and one is still on the team.
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Former Buckeye and Ole Miss graduate forward Cotie McMahon led the Buckeyes with 16 points in a game that foreshadowed the Cardinal’s first season under Kate Paye. Stanford went 16-15 that season, only the third time the program lost that many games in its history and the first time since the 83-84 season when legendary head coach Tara VanDerveer left Ohio State for the West Coast. Stanford looked up in the second year under Paye with a 21-14 record, which was not good enough to get them into the NCAA Tournament.
Guard Ava Watson was the lone current Buckeye to score at least 10 points in the matchup. Current Ohio State center Elsa Lemmilä and guard Kennedy Cambridge both came off the bench for McGuff in the marquee early-season victory, at least in terms of opponent name notoriety. Point guard Jaloni Cambridge missed that game due to a lower back injury sustained 10 days prior.
Due to two vacated wins due to Ohio State recruiting violations, the Buckeyes are 2-2 all-time against Stanford. With those games included, McGuff is 3-1 against the former Pac-12 powerhouse.
The rest of the season schedule is still unknown, but Ohio State has been busy on the recruiting trail since the season ended on its home court in the NCAA Tournament’s Second Round, as it did the previous two years. On July 3, McGuff received the commitment of 2027 forward Sydney Mobley. Out of Big Walnut High School in Sunbury, Ohio, Mobley is a 6-foot-1 four-star forward. Mobley is the No. 29-ranked overall incoming freshman for the 2027 recruiting class.
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When the Buckeyes take the court this season, they will not look much different than last year. Guard Chance Gray left for the WNBA, where she plays a bench role for the Los Angeles Sparks. Also, guard Dasha Biriuk transferred out of Columbus and committed to Grand Canyon University, the second Buckeye to do so in recent years after center Faith Carson made the same move in the spring of 2025.
Ohio State added two freshmen for this season. Guard Atlee Vanesko and forward Adriana Díaz each committed for the 2026-27 season. Vanesko is with the Buckeyes currently for summer practices.
