Sacred Heart realizes task against OSU women

COLUMBUS (AP) — Sacred Heart’s players aren’t deceived. They’ve been invited to the NCAA tournament, but know they’ve almost been set up to fail.

Not only do they have to face the No. 10 team in the nation in Ohio State, but they have to do it in the Buckeyes’ hometown.

“We’re the 14th seed, playing the No. 3 seed,” Pioneers forward Stephanie Ryan said Friday. “The odds are stacked against us. Maybe some of the only people that believe we can win this game is us. But that’s fine. We believe in ourselves.”

Funny thing is, Sacred Heart isn’t the only team with an agenda.

Coming off first-round eliminations the past two years, the Buckeyes also are feeling a little heat.

Coach Jim Foster offered a frosty “no” when asked if his team had something to prove against the Pioneers on Friday.

“First of all, you don’t dwell on the past,” Foster said. “Secondly, I’ve been doing this for 31 years and I’ve seen some terrific coaches go through the same situation. And every team is different. This year’s team has nothing to do with last year’s team, nothing to do with the year before.”

The game will be played on Ohio State’s home court, which has been trucked about 3 miles to the downtown Nationwide Arena for the NCAA tournament. Texas, the sixth seed, meets 11th-seeded Mississippi State in the other first-round game.

After his team lost in the second round as a No. 1 seed three years ago, Foster developed a plan to rebuild the Buckeyes from the ground up as a more athletic team, able to score in transition and run past opponents. The first piece of the puzzle was 6-foot-4 Jantel Lavender, who could outjump an opponent for a rebound and then sprint past her for a fastbreak layup.

Lavender has led the Big Ten in scoring and rebounding while being named player of the year both years in an Ohio State uniform.

This year Foster added Samantha Prahalis, a prep star from Long Island, N.Y., who loved nothing more than running the court and whizzing behind-the-back and no-look passes to her teammates for breakaways.

The transformation is about to be tested for Ohio State (27-5).

“There’s a different mentality,” Foster said of his current team. “It’s a different group and a different burn. They got a little fire in their belly. Maybe a lot.”

Sacred Heart (25-7) has taken an odd road to its second trip to the NCAAs. How many other teams start 0-5 and end up in the tournament?

They finished the year with 21 straight wins. Sacred Heart was the regular-season and tournament champion of the Northeast Conference.