The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary » Samantha Prahalis

A Look at Jim Foster and His Legacy

Charles — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 15:00:05 +0000

The firing of coaches is met with a wide range of emotions by fans, with some firings eliciting happiness and shouts of “good riddance” from the fans while others spark anger in the fans for the loss of a beloved coach. The announcement that Jim Foster would not be returning as the head coach of the Ohio State women’s basketball team was met with a more complex set of emotions by many, including myself. My feelings regarding Foster’s firing would best be described as bittersweet. Foster was a great coach, and even better person, who markedly improved the women’s basketball program. At the same time, despite Foster’s dominance in the Big Ten he was never able to get the team to take the next step and the past three seasons had seen a decline even in the performance in conference.

As WVaBuckeye pointed out in the excellent first part of … [Read More]

Women’s Basketball: Season Preview

Charles — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 17:05:23 +0000

This season The Buckeye Battle Cry and Our Honor Defend will once again be teaming up to bring you coverage of Ohio State women’s basketball. The season gets underway this Friday when OSU takes on Notre Dame in the first ever women’s basketball Carrier Classic game. The Buckeyes are coming off of a 25-7 season that got off to the best start in program history, winning their first 15 games, but fizzled down the stretch, ending in a disappointing first round loss in the NCAA tournament and a 16^th place ranking in the polls. This season OSU opens at 19^th in the rankings but despite that show of confidence by voters, many questions remain about the team.

When a team loses only one player to graduation, you would think that there would be many questions to concern yourself with, after all, almost everyone is back. However, when that … [Read More]

Ohio State’s Season Ends at The Hands of Florida, 70-65

Charles — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:55:33 +0000

Almost a week after being snubbed with only an 8 seed in the NCAA tournament, Ohio State’s women’s basketball team finally got their chance to dance as they faced 9^th seeded Florida. The Gators were a bubble team and thus were thrilled to see their name announced on Monday. The Buckeyes were less thrilled by where their name was called, not only were they given a worse seed than they expected, they were placed so that a first round win would most likely earn them a matchup against top overall seed Baylor, a team that has looked unstoppable this season. The mental state of Ohio State would play a big role in today’s game, did the seeding slight anger the Buckeyes and give them a chip on their shoulder or will they come out flat, still wondering what they could have done to get a better seed.

Florida opened … [Read More]

Ohio State Women’s Basketball Team is An 8 Seed

Charles — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:45:16 +0000

Tonight the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament bracket was announced and Ohio State was not happy with the results. After finishing the season 25-6, tied for second in the Big Ten during the regular season, and ranked 16th in the country, the Buckeyes were shocked when it was announced that they would be an 8 seed. While the Buckeyes were 26th in the RPI and had suffered a late season skid, most expert had OSU slated as a 5 seed, personally I was expecting either a 4 or 5 seed. Instead the Buckeyes will face ninth seeded Florida in the first round with the winner facing the number one overall seed Baylor and its star center Britney Griner. The one bit of good news for the Buckeyes was that they would not have to travel far, getting sent to Bowling Green for the first weekend. Hopefully a large contingent of OSU … [Read More]

Nebraska Ends Ohio State’s Big Ten Tournament Run 77-62

Charles — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 00:18:18 +0000

After beating Michigan yesterday, Ohio State’s faced Nebraska in today’s Big Ten Tournament semi-final game. The Buckeyes and Cornhuskers split their regular season meetings with Ohio State winning in Columbus back in January and Nebraska winning in Lincoln to close the regular season. In their second meeting Nebraska had considerable success attacking the paint while their smothering defense frustrated the Buckeyes.

The game started off as a defensive battle with neither offense getting a lot of breathing room however Ohio State slowly managed to build a 10-2 lead over the first six and a half minutes. The two teams slowly began trading baskets but the Buckeyes managed to extend their lead to 21-8 with just over seven minutes remaining in the half. Nebraska had struggled to hit shots so far but that couldn’t last forever and the Cornhuskers got hot as they traded three-pointers with Ohio State before scoring 16 … [Read More]

Revenge in Indy, Ohio State Defeats Michigan 57-48

Charles — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:51:24 +0000

March is here and that means it is tournament time. The Ohio State women’s basketball team began their defense of their three straight Big Ten Tournament titles by facing Michigan today, the seventh seeded Wolverines had beaten tenth seeded Illinois yesterday while the second seeded Buckeyes had enjoyed a first round bye. Michigan entered this game having won three straight against Ohio State and the Buckeyes were undoubtedly looking for revenge.

The game got off to a slow start but Ohio State managed to build an early 7-2 lead in the first two minutes of the game. Michigan was playing for their NCAA tournament lives and responded with 10 straight points to take a 12-7 lead with thirteen minutes remaining in the half. A 7 to 2 run by the Buckeyes tied the game at 14 but the Wolverines took an 18-16 lead a couple minutes later. OSU responded with … [Read More]

Samantha Prahalis Named Big Ten Player of the Year

Charles — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 03:52:07 +0000

Today the Big Ten announced its annual women’s basketball awards and Ohio State did very well for itself. The top headline was Samantha Prahalis being named Big Ten Player of the Year by both the coaches and the media. Prahalis led the conference in assists, 6.5 per game, and her 20.4 points per game put her second in the conference in that category. Prahalis has 889 assists in her career and is only four away from becoming the Big Ten’s all-time leader in that category. This is the 8th straight year that a Buckeye has been named Player of the Year, an incredible run for the program.

Prahalis was not the only Buckeye to take home an award. Junior guard Amber Stokes was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Stokes typically drew the assignment of guarding the oppositing team’s top scoring threat and she excelled at it. Her … [Read More]

#14 Ohio State Upset by #23 Nebraska 71-57

Charles — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:19:59 +0000

Ohio State traveled to Lincoln today hoping to head into conference play on a winning streak and improve their seeding for the NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes had already locked up their spot in the conference but a win on the road against a ranked team would be a big statement for a team that has struggled down the stretch.

Ohio State jumped out to an early 8-4 lead as Samantha Prahalis scored the first 5 points for the Buckeyes. Nebraska came right back with a 9 to 2 run to take a 13-10 lead. The Buckeyes briefly retook the lead thanks to five straight points but then the Cornhuskers went on an 18 to 1 run to take a 31-16 lead with six minutes remaining in the half. During that stretch the Buckeye offense looked rattled and they could do nothing defensively to prevent the Cornhuskers from attacking inside. A … [Read More]