The Lady Buckeyes after an up-and-down season, rode into the conference tournament as a fifth seed on a six-game win streak and hit the ground running. In their first game against the fourth seed Iowa Hawkeyes, the game was close til about 6 minutes left in the second half when Brittany Johnson started raining threes to allow the Buckeyes to pull away. Johnson finished the game with a career high 23 points and 7 made 3-pointers (5 in the 2nd half) including one from the left corner that banked off the backboard and in. Down the stretch Jamie Printy's 19 points weren't enough to keep her team in the game as Iowa fell to Ohio State 61-71. Jantel Lavender Barely held onto her streak of consecutive double digit scoring games with 11 points and 14 boards.
The next game for the Buckeyes pitted them against #1 seed Michigan state, a team they had beaten twice before in the regular season. This game will be remembered as the Jantel Lavender show. The 4-time Big 10 POY worked against the smaller Big 10 Def-POY Lykendra Johnson all game, and it was no contest. Lavender had 21 pts in the first half, didn't even attempt a shot in the first 8 minutes of the 2nd half, and still ended up with 37 points which broke her previous Big 10 Tournament record for points in a game of 35. Despite allowing MSU to haul in 25 offensive rebounds, Ohio State's defense was the second star of this game. MSU came in regarded as the best defensive team in the conference, but it was Ohio State that held the Spartans to 32% shooting from the field, and 5-25 from behind the arc. Ohio State ended up winning the semifinal game 72-57.
In the Big 10 Tournament Championship on Sunday against #2 seed Penn State, the Buckeyes three-headed attack of Tayler Hill, Samantha Prahalis, and Jantel Lavender was too much for the young Lady Lions team to Handle. The three combined for 63 points (Lavender/Prahalis 23, Hill 17), as Lavender was working down low, Prahalis in the lane, and Hill in transition (and an uncharacteristic 3-5 performance from down town). The defense continued to be the surprise for Ohio State as it forced the #1 offense in the league to just 35% shooting from the field, and held Big 10 FOY Maggie Lucas to just 8 pts on 1-10 shooting. Ohio State got to the line late thanks to 17 Penn State team fouls, and converted from the line making it impossible for the Lions to amount a comeback. Ohio State 84 Penn State 70.
With the win Ohio State ties the Big Ten tournament record for the lowest seed to win the championship. The tournament championship is Ohio State's third in a row, also a Big Ten record. Jantel Lavender has Big Ten Records for Points in a game, career rebounds, career points, FG made in a game among many others. Prahalis, with still one year left in her career, is now 2nd on the all-time tournament assists list, needing just six more to tie Penn State's Helen Darling. Ohio State finishes the tournament on a nine game winning streak, and is arguably the hottest team in the country as four of those nine have come against ranked opponents.
All Big Ten Tournament Team:
Talyer Hill, G, Ohio State
Jantel Lavender, F, Ohio State
Samantha Prahalis, G, Ohio State
Alex Bently, G, Penn State
Maggie Lucas, G, Penn State
No comments:
Post a Comment