Top-15 Matchup Awaits TCU Women's Basketball In New Jersey

No. 10 TCU and No. 14 Ohio State will face off in the Coretta Scott King Classic.

Marta Suarez and the TCU women's basketball team will face Ohio State in New Jersey on Monday. | Brian McLean - On Assignment Photo/KillerFrogs.com for TCU On SI

TCU women’s basketball (18-1 overall, 6-1 Big 12) will cap off a three-game week with a neutral-site, non-conference game against Ohio State (16-2, 6-1 Big 10).

The No.10-ranked Horned Frogs and No. 14-Buckeyes will play on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, Jan. 19, at 11 a.m. from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey as part of the Coretta Scott King Classic. Michigan and Vanderbilt are scheduled to play after TCU and Ohio State. Both games will be televised on FOX.

This game closes out TCU’s nonconference schedule and also provides another test against a NCAA Tournament team. A win over the Buckeyes would give the Horned Frogs a Quad 1 win and help bolster their resume as they aim to host the first and second rounds of the tournament for the second consecutive year. 

The Horned Frogs will play their third game in six days on Monday after traveling to West Virginia on Wednesday, playing at home Saturday, and now heading back to the East Coast. The Buckeyes last played on Wednesday. 

Last Time Out: TCU

TCU beat Arizona 78-62 behind a team-high 16 points from guard Olivia Miles. Clara Silva posted her fifth double-double of the season (15 points, 11 rebounds) and reached double-digits for the eighth time in nine games. Veronica Sheffey came off the bench to score 11 points, dish out two assists and grab three rebounds. 

The Wildcats kept pace with the Horned Frogs for the entire first half and held a 30-28 lead at the break. TCU flipped a switch in the second half, outscoring Arizona 50-32 and easing its way to another Big 12 win. 

The victory put TCU in a three-way tie atop the Big 12 standings with Texas Tech and Baylor. Texas Tech dropped its first game of the season to Kansas State on Saturday while Baylor has won six consecutive Big 12 games after losing the conference opener. 

Last Time Out: Ohio State

Ohio State beat Penn State 108-84 and remains near the top of the Big 10 standings, just a game out of first place behind No. 3 UCLA. 

Guard Jaloni Cambridge scored a game-high 33 points and dished out six assists. Guard Chance Gray and center Elsa Lemmilä added 23 and 21 points, respectively. 

Ohio State Buckeyes guard Jaloni Cambridge (22) dribbles the ball down the court in the first half of the NCAA basketball game at Value City Arena on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. | Samantha Madar/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Scouting Ohio State

Ohio State has racked up some quality wins this season, including at then-No. 8 Maryland and a neutral site victory over Big 12 foe, West Virginia. The Buckeyes' only blemishes this season are a 100-68 loss at No. 1 UConn and a seven-point loss to UCLA. 

The Buckeyes score 86.2 points per game while holding opponents to 62.7 points. Defense has been a strength for Ohio State, snagging a Big 10-best 13.4 steals per game and blocking almost five shots per game. 

Cambridge leads Ohio State with 21.8 points and 4.3 assists per game. The 2025 Big 10 Freshman of the Year, Cambridge shoots nearly 52% from the field, but only 25% from 3-point range (17-of-68). She likes to drive inside the arc and create shots for herself and teammates. 

Gray has attempted a team-high 96 3-pointers this season, connecting on 30. She provides another scoring option at 13.3 points per game and is third on the team in assists with 55. 

As a team, the Buckeyes shoot 31% from long distance and have reached 40% or better four times this season. A 50% (11-of-22) performance from 3-point range helped Ohio State pull off the upset against Maryland. 

Like the Horned Frogs, The Buckeyes have a talented center and forward to complement the guard play. 

Ohio State Buckeyes center Elsa Lemmila (12) defends Tennessee Lady Vols guard Jewel Spear (0) during the second round of the women's NCAA Tournament at Value City Arena in Columbus on March 23, 2025. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Kylee Kitts, a 6-4 forward, has started every game this season and snags a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game alongside 9.6 points. Kitts has 17 blocks, 23 assists and shoots 45% from the field. Lemmilä, a 6-6 center, made her eighth start of the season against Penn State. In addition to matching her career high in points, she logged a block, three steals, and four assists. Lemmilä leads the Buckeyes in total blocks (30) and shooting percentage (57.7%). 

About the Coretta Scott King Classic

The Coretta Scott King Classic is in its second year and is played on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The classic honors the values and legacy of Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s wife, and the King family, while also celebrating leadership, equality, education, and empowerment through sport. 

Last December, coaches and players participating in the classic joined a video call with Dr. Bernice A King, the youngest child of Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King, Jr. King grew up around sports since her dad played basketball and had connections with iconic athletes like Muhamad Ali.

“[Sport] was very centralized in my personal life,” King said. “Me and my siblings as well. Every sport you name, I played growing up. And of course, basketball and soccer were my favorite.”

King also spoke about her mother’s advocacy work and why a women’s college basketball event felt like a fitting way to honor Scott King’s legacy. 

“I want to emphasize how elated I am that this was done because, you know, she's overlooked,” King said. “We think about it when we talk about the movement. The women who were very essential to that movement were overlooked. And so here's a platform where we get to showcase the excellence, the strength, the power of women's influence. Because for me, leadership is influence.”

King’s father became a key voice in the Civil Rights movement, giving his famous “I Have A Dream” speech in August 1963. Scott King was a peace activist as well before meeting Martin Luther King and just as much a champion for justice and equality, King said. 

Coretta Scott King formed a coalition in the summer of 1983 that visited Washington, D.C. to advocate for Martin Luther King Day as an official holiday, King said. MLK was observed as a federal holiday starting in 1986, and by 2000, every state had made it a holiday. 

Scott King continued her advocacy work until she died in 2006, and that work lives on in many ways, including through the King Center. Scott King established the King Center in June 1968, a few months after King’s assassination.   

King now serves as CEO of the King Center, which focuses on preparing and educating a new generation in nonviolent ways “of my father and, I dare say, my parents,” King said. “She's the one who institutionalized what they did in terms of nonviolence into an education platform, and we infused it into everything that we do.”

Recommended Links

Powered by KillerFrogs.com