Sweet.
Other teams before him have been better top to bottom than this one. Unlike those other teams, this one hasn’t bowed out just yet. In front of what looked like a not-so-packed-at-all audience at Nationwide, the Buckeyes put away the Bulldogs 64-58. In essence, they capitalized on the hometown cooking afforded to them by the selection committee where their male counterparts did not.
Mississippi State was certainly a valiant opponent. The 11-seeded Bulldogs were surprise victors over the 6 seed Longhorns and put up as much of an effort tonight. They had the slight advantage through the first 10 minutes of the game, principally on the heels of crisp shooting by Tykesha Grimes (who finished with 22 points). The Buckeyes eventually took control to end the half with a 2 point lead after a bucket by Sarah Schulze at the buzzer. Though the Buckeyes jumped up early out of intermission, the Bulldogs closed the gap immediately. Entering the under 7 timeout, the Buckeyes were down 4 after Maria Moeller gave Alexis Rack the hoop and the harm. The Buckeyes finished the game strong with defense and free throws. The Buckeyes’ defense forced the Bulldogs into a comedy of turnovers where the Buckeye offense merely had to sink free throws to sail past the Bulldogs for the 8 point victory. Ohio State’s final 10 points, over the course of 7 minutes, came from the charity stripe. By contrast, Mississippi State was held scoreless after Alexis Rack made good on the three point play.
The Buckeyes next play in Berkeley, California on Saturday and will play the winner of San Diego State and Stanford (TBD later tonight). I’m expecting the latter and I’m expecting this to be where Ohio State’s tournament ride ends.
I’d love to be wrong, of course, because I want a championship t-shirt.
Written by: Vico |