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Women's Basketball
Spartans Hand Buckeyes First Home Loss
By Tony Gerdeman

Desperate for a signature win in Big Ten play, Michigan State (19-8, 10-6) went on the road and upset #7 Ohio State (26-4, 14-3 Big Ten) 71-68, led by junior guard Brittney Thomas, who scored 19 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out five assists for the Spartans.

Michigan State led most of the game and never trailed from the 11:27 mark of the first half until the 2:49 mark of the second half.

It was a tremendous defensive effort from the Spartans throughout, but even when Ohio State had opportunities, they rarely delivered.

“It was a very uneven game and not a lot of flow to it“, said Buckeye Head Coach Jim Foster. “You have to adjust to that and learn to make plays. You cannot play on adrenaline and throw the ball so hard it goes into the bleachers. You have to learn to deliver.”

The first lead in the second half for the Buckeyes came on the back of a furious 13-point comeback with less than ten minutes remaining. Trailing 46-33 with 9:53 left, Ohio State made a concerted effort to keep center Jantel Lavender involved. She answered with eight points in the Buckeyes’ 22-8 run. Ohio State finally recapture the lead 55-54 with 2:49 to play in the game.

For Lavender, the turnaround was fairly easily explained. "We just started playing defense“, she said. “We were getting stops. We started really switching off and the guards were switching screens. Everybody was closing out well. We were just getting after it defensively. I think that’s where the game turned around for us in the second half.”

It then appeared as though the Buckeyes would ice the game away, even building a three-point lead with just over one minute to play. But Michigan State refused to quit and Ohio State couldn’t capitalize by making their free throws down the stretch. Point guard Samantha Prahalis’ final shot in regulation was missed badly, and the put back by forward Sarah Schulze rolled off the rim as time expired, sending the game into overtime.

"I couldn’t close it“, said Prahalis. “I couldn’t close it out. I had a couple of times to close it out with some free throws and missed. I went 4-11 from the foul line--that’s just unacceptable. "

Despite the struggles, the Buckeyes quickly built a four-point lead in overtime, but just as quickly, Michigan State went on an 8-0 run to take the four-point lead with 31 seconds remaining. Prahalis’ three-pointer with 18 seconds left cut the lead to one, but the Spartans were able to seal the game at the free throw line, snapping Ohio State’s 24-game home winning streak.

Michigan State Head Coach Suzy Merchant was happy with the victory, but not surprised.

"We’re going nine deep. And I think we can run with an Ohio State. They don’t go as deep as we do, but because we’re fresh I think we can stay with them in transition where they start to wear people out. I thought that was a key for us."

Lavender finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds, giving her 17 double-doubles on the season. Prahalis, coming into this game with a school-record 47 consecutive free throws made, went a disappointing 4-11 from the foul line against the Spartans.

Redshirt freshman guard Amber Stokes gave the Buckeyes some good minutes in the second half as Foster was looking for another guard who could drive the basketball.

“Her ability to get the ball to the basket is something we need from the guard position“, said Foster. “We can’t depend on one person to do that all the time. Hopefully she will learn, grow and take advantage of opportunities.”

“Learn, grow and take advantage of opportunities” is probably sage advice for everybody involved if goals are to be met this season.

Postgame Notes

- The attendance of 11,827 is the largest crowd of the year, and second largest ever at Value City Arena for a women’s basketball game.

- With the loss, the Buckeyes now own an 18-10 record at home against Michigan State all-time.

- Ohio State is now 18-1 at home this year. The Buckeyes are now 126-10 at home under Jim Foster.

- This was just Ohio State’s third home loss in their last fifty Big Ten games.

- Jantel Lavender has now scored in double-figures in all 96 games in her career, the longest active streak in Division I.

- Guard Brittany Johnson, who came into this game leading the Big Ten in three-point shooting--making 50.4% of her attempts, finished the game 0-4 from behind the three-point line.

- Only three Buckeyes recorded assists in the game, but eight of the nine Buckeyes who played committed at least one turnover. Forward Andrea Walker was the only Buckeye without a turnover.

- The Buckeyes were 13-14 from the free throw line if you take away Prahalis’ 4-11 mark.

Box Score

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