OSU hopes for repeat

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

The game will be played on a neutral court in Pittsburgh, not on Ohio State’s home floor in Columbus.

Some of the players are different, others find themselves playing more important roles. One prominent player who was a starter a year ago now is one of the nation’s best reserves.

Regardless, Mississippi State knows that to beat Ohio State in the NCAA women’s tournament — something the Lady Bulldogs couldn’t do last season — they must control game-changing inside player Jantel Lavender.

They couldn’t do that a year ago, and it largely explains why Mississippi State was ousted in the second round. Or the same round in which the teams will meet tonight, with a trip to the round of 16 awaiting the winner.

“I don’t remember too much about it,” Mississippi State scoring leader Alexis Rack said Monday, referring to Ohio State’s 64-58 victory.

Or maybe she simply preferred to forget about it. Especially the final 6 minutes, 43 seconds.

The Lady Bulldogs led 58-54, only to go scoreless the rest of the game. Lavender finished with 20 points as the Buckeyes went on a game-ending 10-0 run to win it.

Maybe this is a positive sign for the Lady Bulldogs. They were in a reverse situation Sunday against Middle Tennessee State, trailing by as many as 15 points, before a game-ending 13-0 run during the final 4 1/2 minutes gave them a 68-64 victory.

Lesson learned?

“We didn’t finish the [Ohio State] game, obviously, like we wanted to,” guard Mary Kathryn Govero said. “We didn’t score for a while there at the end. But it let us know we can play with this team — but their team isn’t everybody it was last year, and we’re both different.”

Lavender is the same tough-to-move, tough-to-defend center, as evidenced by the three-time Big Ten Conference player of the year’s 23 points and 16 rebounds during a 93-59 rout of St. Francis, Pa., on Sunday.

“She is one of those players that is capable of separating herself from good players to great players,” Buckeyes coach Jim Foster said. “She has the ability to play when it’s not all there.”