Madison Greene expanding her role for Ohio State women’s basketball team

Ohio State women’s basketball coach Kevin McGuff is beginning to see how freshman point point Madison Greene led Pickerington Central to a 101-13 record, a state championship and a state runner-up finish during her high school career.

“Madison really understands the game and how to make people around her better,” McGuff said. “She shows up and brings great effort and character to every practice and every game. I thought coming in she had a chance to compete for meaningful minutes, and she has earned them.”

Heading into a Big Ten game at 19th-ranked Iowa (15-3, 6-1) on Thursday night, Greene has started six straight games for the Buckeyes (11-7, 4-3). After providing a spark off the bench, her playing time has spiked considerably in recent weeks.

Greene signed with Penn State in November 2018 but was granted a release from her national letter of intent last March after coach Coquese Washington was fired. She reopened her recruitment and committed to Ohio State on May 13, becoming the eighth member of a recruiting class ranked No. 3 nationally before her arrival.

“It was a really tough time with (Washington’s firing) happening during our state tournament run,” Greene said. “Going through that recruiting process once was tough enough already. Essentially, I narrowed it to Penn State and Ohio State and decided after a lot of support from my family to come here. It’s been a great experience thus far.”

Ohio State’s deep rotation has been in flux much of the season as McGuff seeks the right pairings and matchups. Being the only full-fledged point guard on the roster, however, has given the 5-foot-8 Greene a slight edge. Along with being a cerebral quarterback on the floor, she is a tenacious defender.

“I guess I’m a little surprised to be starting this early in my career,” Greene said. “I just wanted to come in and make an impact and sort of carve out a role. …

“I’ve always taken to heart something my dad told me. He always told me to be undeniable … to do anything you can to impact a game and make your team better, whether it’s getting your teammates the ball, getting a steal, playing tough defense.”

Greene is averaging 6.9 points (9.6 in conference play) and has collected 32 assists, 25 rebounds and 20 steals.

Ohio State hopes to build on its 77-47 win over Illinois at home Sunday in which it closed on a 40-10 run.

Tied with Northwestern atop the Big Ten, Iowa is second in the conference in scoring at 80.4 points per game. The Hawkeyes also rank first in field goal percentage (48.9) and second in three-point shooting (38.8).

Iowa is led by 5-9 senior guard Kathleen Doyle (18.2 points, 6.2 assists per game), 6-3 sophomore forward Monika Czinano (15.9 points, 71.5% field goal shooting) and 5-9 senior guard Makenzie Meyer (15.0 points).

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Ohio State at Iowa

When: 8 p.m. Thursday

TV: Big Ten Network

Radio: WBNS-AM (1460)

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