Few teams around college basketball can score as effectively, or as voluminously, as Ohio State. And that offensive proficiency shapes the 2022-23 Buckeyes identity as bona fide national championship contenders. 

Third-ranked Ohio State brings an undefeated record and the nation's fourth-highest scoring average, 90 points per game, into the San Diego Invitational. Paced by the multidimensional offensive repertoire of Taylor Mikesell, six Buckeyes average in double-figures scoring through the campaign's first 11 games. 

Impressive enough as that stat is on its own, it's made all the more so given that one of the six, 2022 All-American Jacy Sheldon, has been limited to five games due to a leg injury. 

Sheldon averaged north of 19 points per game a season ago and shot almost 37 percent from 3-point range. She was integral to Ohio State's Sweet 16 run last March, putting together a postseason that included a 23-point effort in the Round of 32 against LSU and 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals in the 66-63 loss to Texas. 

Following the near-miss that almost sent Ohio State to the Regional Final, coach Kevin McGuff foreshadowed the Buckeyes' excellence to come after enduring some frustrating years prior to their 2021-22 breakout.

"I hope that given the fact that we didn't go to Tournament because of COVID [in 2020], we had a postseason ban the next year, [we are] disappointed that we didn't take this next step now, but I'm hoping that this experience at this level at the second weekend in the tournament will give us a chance to learn and grow and put us in a position to do something like that in the coming years."

When Sheldon returns to full-strength, she will rejoin Mikesell to form what could be college basketball's most dangerous backcourt scoring duo. The two will drive Ohio State's push for the Final Four as this season progresses. 

Mikesell's 18.4 points per game and a hair less than 40 percent shooting from beyond the 3-point arc lead Ohio State on the season. 

Sheldon's availability for the San Diego Invitational is up in the air; Buckeyes coach Kevin McGuff said following a Big Ten Conference win over Michigan on Dec. 11, "At this point, week-to-week is what I would tell you...We’ll see how she kind of reacts to it."

The Buckeyes have been no worse for the wear without Sheldon in the lineup, thanks to Madison Greene stepping up into a starting role. Greene has hit 12-of-21 from 3-point range and counts among Ohio State's six double-figure point-per-game scorers. 

Ohio State's scoring prowess isn't exclusive to the perimeter, either. The Buckeyes head to San Diego fresh off an 82-57 blowout of UAlbany on Dec. 17 in which forward Cotie McMahon went for 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting from floor. 

McMahon has scored at least 20 points three times into her young collegiate career, bringing a youthful energy to the upperclassmen-dominated Ohio State lineup. 

⛓️THE Cotie McMahon⛓️ pic.twitter.com/HJ1LTTqX9n

— Ohio State WBB (@OhioStateWBB) November 27, 2022

And this is indeed a veteran squad. 

Of the six leading scorers, four — Mikesell, Sheldon, Greene and Rebeka Mikulasikova — are in at least their fourth year. Taylor Thierry is a sophomore. 

Chief among those veterans so far in 2022-23, Mikesell is having an All-American-level season. She ranks ninth nationally in 3-pointers made per game, connecting on more than three a contest, and is top-40 in both offensive win shares and overall win shares, per HerHoopStats.com metrics. 

Mikesell joined the Ohio State lineup a season ago as a transfer, and after the NCAA Tournament, she said, "this is the best decision that I made, coming here." 

Mikesell could see her former team, the University of Oregon, at the San Diego Invitational.