Buckeye Blogger Network
The Ohio State senior class celebrated Senior Day with a win over Michigan.
When it comes to Ohio State sports, it is only appropriate that the regular season should end with a game against Michigan; unfortunately this rarely happens for most sports that aren’t football. This year the Big Ten scheduling computers got things right for the women’s basketball team who closed the regular season today by hosting Michigan, their only game against the Wolverines this season. The Buckeyes came into this game on a two game winning streak that had seen them play some of their best basketball of the season and they looked to keep that momentum going heading into this week’s Big Ten tournament.
After Michigan scored on the game’s first possession, the two teams traded baskets until Ohio State scored six straight to take an 11-6 lead just over six minutes into the game. The Wolverines responded with a pair of three points sandwiched around an Ameryst Alston basket to make it a one point game and then tied it at 16 a few minutes later. The Buckeyes roared back with a 10 to 2 run to take a 26-18 lead with just under six minutes remaining in the half. The teams would trade baskets for the rest of the half and Ohio State went into halftime lead 30-25.
Tayler Hill scored 18 of her 21 points in the second half to lead Ohio State over Illinois.
Coming off one of their best team games of the year in Monday’s win over Michigan State, the Ohio State women’s basketball team looked to build some momentum with tonight’s game at Illinois. This was the last road game of the year for the Buckeyes, which must come as a relief to a team that has really struggled on the road over the past two seasons. Those road struggles also meant that this game was really important for OSU, not only as it would tell us if the good performance against Sparty was indicative of things to come or was just a mere blip but also because a road win would greatly help the Buckeyes’ case to sneak into the NCAA tournament.
The game started out as a back and forth affair which resulted in the game being tied at 9 seven minutes into the game. The importance of this game for the postseason hopes of both teams was apparently early as both teams played energetic defense but also had moments of sloppy play on offense which led to turnovers. After a good shooting start by Ohio State, their shooting went cold and Illinois took advantage to go on a 7 to 2 run to take a 16-11 lead with eight minutes remaining in the half. The Buckeyes responded though, scoring six straight to take a 17-16 lead just over six minutes on the clock. The lead bounced back and forth for a couple minutes before OSU went on an 8 to 2 run to take a 27-22 lead with two and a half minutes remaining. The two teams would trade baskets the rest of the way and when the buzzer sounded for halftime Ohio State had a 31-26 lead.
Raven Ferguson got her first start at the four spot and helped lead the Buckeyes to a solid win over Michigan State.
The Ohio State women’s basketball team looked to copy the men’s team from yesterday and pull off an upset of Michigan State at home. Following a heart breaking loss to Minnesota last Thursday, the Buckeyes added a new wrinkle to their lineup as sophomore guard Raven Ferguson returned to the starting lineup but in a new position, taking over at the four spot. This change gives OSU a smaller lineup but one that is more athletic and one that is a bit more dangerous from the outside.
After Ohio State’s recent shooting woes, Buckeye fans were relieved and excited as Tayler Hill hit OSU’s first shot of the night with her foot on the three point line. The Buckeyes would hit 4 of their first 6 shots to take an 8-7 lead at the first media timeout. At that point OSU’s good offensive start quickly evaporated as the Buckeye missed five straight shots and Michigan State forced several turnovers. Fortunately MSU also struggled with its shooting during this stretch and only managed to take an 11-8 lead with just over fourteen minutes remaining in the first half. After three minutes of neither team being able to score, Ashley Adams finally hit a two point jumper which the Spartans immediately answered. The Adams basket seemed to re-ignite the Buckeye offense as Raven Ferguson hit a three to tie the game on the next trip down the floor and Ohio State went on an 18 to 5 run to take a 28-15 lead with just under five minutes on the clock. MSU wasn’t going to go away though as they scored six straight points and closed the half on an 8 to 2 run to cut the Ohio State lead to 30-23 at halftime.
Tayler Hill and the Buckeyes didn’t have many positive moments in the loss to Nebraska.
Ohio State entered tonight’s game riding a three game winning streak, their longest this season since Big Ten play started. The Buckeyes knew that keeping that streak going wasn’t going to be easy as they had to face Nebraska in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers came into tonight’s game in second place in the Big Ten and on a three game winning streak against the Buckeyes, all three wins being fairly comfortable ones.
Nebraska got out to an early lead; hitting three of their first four shots to take a 6-0 lead three minutes into the game. Ohio State responded though with a seven point run to go up 7-6 just a bit more than three minutes later. At this point an intense back-and-forth battle started with the two teams trading baskets and the lead for the next eleven minutes with neither team able to take more than a two point lead. That narrow margin was broken when the Cornhuskers scored 5 straight to take a 23-19 lead with a minute left in the half. The Buckeyes would briefly narrow that lead back to a single basket but then Nebraska hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to give themselves a 25-21 lead going into intermission.
Freshman Ameryst Alston’s improbable last second shot made her the hero in the double overtime win.
After winning just their second Big Ten game of the year by beating Indiana on Super Bowl Sunday, the Ohio State women’s basketball team hosted Wisconsin in an attempt to finally get a conference winning streak going. This game also represented the first chance at revenge this season for the Buckeyes who lost in Madison last month thanks to a disastrous second half where OSU couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.
The first half was a tight, back-and-forth affair where neither team could get much breathing room in a very tough defensive battle where both teams really slowed down the pace of play. Wisconsin opened with a 6-2 lead only to see Ohio State tie it up at 6 after approximately six minutes of action. The Badgers would go back out front, 10-8 before the Buckeyes scored 7 straight to open up a 15-10 lead with just over seven minutes left in the half. Just as it seemed like OSU was going to have some nice momentum, Wisconsin responded with an 8 to 2 run of their own to retake the lead, 18-17, with four minutes remaining in the half. Those last four minutes continued the defensive, back-and-forth nature of the game but Ohio State managed to claw their way to a 26-24 halftime lead.
Didn’t turn out well for Badgers, but I couldn’t resist.
School: University of Wisconsin – Madison
Location: Madison, WI
Founded: 1848
Student Population: 42,595 total, 28,897 undergrad
School Type: Public
Stadium: Kohl Center
Seating: 17,230
Opened: 1998
Head Coach: Bobbie Kelsey
Experience: 2nd year
Tayler Hill scored in double figures for the 54th straight game but that wasn’t enough to overcome Nebraska.
After finally getting their first Big Ten win two weeks ago, Ohio State has lost two straight. The first loss was to hapless Wisconsin while the second was to a top 10 Penn State squad; the common aspect of both losses was disastrous second half collapses where the normally hot shooting Buckeyes couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn. OSU’s 11-9 overall, 1-6 Big Ten, record made this game a must win if the Buckeyes want to make the NCAA tournament. The importance of this game was not lost on Coach Foster who tinkered with his starting lineup, inserting Maleeka Kynard and Aleksandra Dobranic into the lineup next to Tayler Hill, Ameryst Alston, and Ashley Adams.
In another new twist, Ohio State opened in a zone defense struggled to match-up well on the perimeter and Nebraska took advantage by hitting a quick trio of three pointers to take an 11-4 lead six and a half minutes into the game. The Buckeyes responded though, capitalizing on some Nebraska turnovers to score 7 straight points, tying the game at 11 midway through the first half. The two teams would go back and forth for the next several minutes before the Cornhuskers went on 10-0 run to take a 34-21 lead with eighteen seconds remaining in the half. Tayler Hill would convert an old fashioned three point play in the closing sections to trim the Nebraska lead to 34-24 as the teams headed into the locker rooms.
The Women’s team are heading to Lincoln to face Nebrasketball a couple days before the Men. Let’s take a look.
Says it all..
School: University of Nebraska – Lincoln
Location: Lincoln, NE
Founded: 1859
Student Population: 19,345
School Type: Public – Land Grant
Stadium: Bob Devaney Sports Center
Seating: 13,595
Opened: 1976
Head Coach: Connie Yori
Experience: 11th year
