Women's Basketball
Buckeye - Tarapin Matchup Features Matchup of Premier Centers
By John Porentas
The Ohio State women's basketball team (29-4) reached the second round of the NCAA tournament for the third-consecutive season with an 86-45 win over Holy Cross Sunday at the Comcast Center in College Park, Md.
The second-seeded Ohio State women’s basketball team will play in the second round of the NCAA Tournament today, at approximately 9:30 PM tonight, facing seventh-seeded Maryland at Comcast Center in College Park, Maryland.
Playing in the Philadelphia Region, the Terps (22-9) advance to the second round for the second-straight year after defeating UW-Green Bay, 65-55, in the first round. It is the first time since 1989 and 1990 Maryland has posted NCAA Tournament wins in back-to-back years.
The team's last met in 1988 in the Sweet 16 in Athens, Ga. The Terps won, 81-66, to advance to the Elite Eight.
The Terps will have a home-court advantage in the game, one of only five schools in this year's NCAA field to be playing in their home arena. OSU will have to overcome not only a strong Maryland team, but the support of their fans. The Buckeyes think they are ready to take on that challenge.
"I think it's going to be a great atmosphere. It's going to be a great game. We've played on the road all season. It's just going to be another road game for us. But I think it's going to be a great atmosphere for the ball game," said OSU senior guard Caity Matter.
"We've been playing in atmospheres like this all year," added sophomore guard Brandy Hoskins.
"All we have to do is keep doing what we've been doing - communicating, just talking out there a lot. The crowd's going to do what they're going to do. We just have to communicate on the floor and get the job done and not worry about the crowd."
The game will feature a matchup between to excellent underclassman centers in Maryland's 6-3 Crystal Langhorne and OSU's 6-4 Jessica Davenport. Langhorne, a true freshman, was a McDonalds, Parade and Street and Smith All-American coming out of high school. Langhorne averaged a double-double this season, scoring at a 17.0 per game clip and grabbing 10.5 rebounds per game. Her rebound total leads the Terrapins and only sophomore guard Shay Doron has scored more at 17.8 points per game.
"When Crystal came in, offensively, she had all the tools, and obviously a rebounding edge," said Maryland Head Coach Brenda Frese.
"But I think the biggest improvement she's made in her game is from the defensive end. Just to see really this last month of the season how hard she's going and how aggressive she's being, I think she's really turned her game into being a complete player. Obviously, her maturity, both on and off the court, is beyond years of a freshman. I've never seen the kid ever have a difficult time in terms of handling pressure. She really thrives on it. You never see her rattled. She's just an extremely mature person and player."
"It's going to be a tough match-up, said Davenport.
"I have a very physical game, and she's a physical player. I'll just try to take away what she's good at,"
Davenport said.
"Jessica has a tremendous amount of size and is very difficult to guard when she gets you down on the low block," said Frese.
"I think it will be a tremendous match-up between two big centers, and I think it's going to come down to being able to neutralize everyone else."
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