Seniors wary of stumble in final home game
Ohio State’s outgoing players will be playing their final home game Wednesday night, but it is not senior night.
That was celebrated at Value City Arena on Sunday against a tougher opponent, Purdue.
The finale against Northwestern is officially just another game for the Buckeyes seniors.
That appears to be the way they want it. Pots of gold remain at the end of the rainbow for OSU — a potential Big Ten championship, home court for the start of the NCAA Tournament and, biggest of all, the chance to play in the Final Four in Columbus.
The most immediate concern is the Big Ten race.
Ohio State ( 22- 6 overall, 11- 3 Big Ten)
No. 14 Ohio State vs. Northwestern
7 TONIGHT
Value City Arena none WBNS-AM (1460)
Ohio State 22-6, 11-3 Big Ten; Northwestern 10-18, 3-11
This is the lone regular-season meeting between these teams. … Northwestern snapped an eight-game losing streak by beating Illinois 68-61 on Sunday. The Wildcats had balanced scoring against the Illini, led by Bryana Hopkins’ 15. … Northwestern has little depth after a couple of transfers and an injury to senior Lydia Rohde, who hasn’t played since Jan. 7. is tied atop the conference with Maryland. But on Tuesday, all Projected starters OHIO STATE G Kelsey Mitchell, 5-8, Sr., 24.6 G Sierra Calhoun, 6-0, Jr., 11.6 G Linnae Harper, 5-8, Sr., 15.0 G Asia Doss, 5-7, Sr., 8.2 F Stephanie Mavunga, 6-3, Sr., 16.1
F Hart, 6-3, Sr., 4.7; F Waterman, 6-2, Jr., 3.0 NORTHWESTERN F Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah, 6-2, Jr., 11.0 F Bryana Hopkins, 6-2, Soph., 4.6 F/C Abi Scheid, 6-2, Soph., 12.4 G Jordan Hamilton 5-8 Fr., 7.8 G Lindsey Pulliam, 5-7, Fr., 14.3
G Galernik, 5-8, Soph., 4.7, C Hamilton 6-4, Sr., 3.0 they were concerned with was that day’s practice and the Northwestern game.
“From the games we’ve won and lost we’ve learned we have to take it one step at a time,” senior Asia Doss said.
The guard said the Buckeyes have learned their lesson about not focusing on the immediate task, particularly on defense.
Northwestern ( 1018, 3- 11) would appear to be overmatched.
The Wildcats snapped an eightgame losing streak on Sunday with a 68- 61 victory over an Illinois team that’s winless in the Big Ten.
Ohio State has won 27 of its past 30 games against Northwestern. Still, the Buckeyes are wary of the Wildcats.
“If you look at them, they’ve played their best games against the best teams on the road, for whatever reason,” Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. “They have a lot of talent. They’re just young. They have a hard time closing out games, but they’re in every game and I suspect they’re going to take their best shot at us knowing what’s ahead for us.”
McGuff said Northwestern’s size concerns him. Three of the Wildcats’ starters are listed as 6 feet 2.
“They can pound the ball inside, and it puts a lot of pressure on our interior defense,” he said. “With Steph ( Mavunga) and Lex ( Alexa Hart), we have some really good players, but we’re not super deep there.”
Mavunga and Hart, along with Doss, Linnae Harper and Kelsey Mitchell, are the seniors playing their last home game.
“I might get emotional,” acknowledged Hart, the only Columbus native among the seniors.
Doss said she expects to stay composed.
“As long as they don’t have a ( retrospective) video, I’ll be OK,” she said.
Now they want to make sure they do everything they can to make their final chapters special.
“All of our seniors have had great careers,” McGuff said. “It’s been a little bit different for everybody. Kelsey obviously has been unbelievable and it’s been wellchronicled. Asia and Alexa have both done whatever they could to help the team win.
“They’ve had different roles throughout their careers — starters and major minutes coming off the bench. They’ve embraced it all and always found ways to make sure they were a big part of our success.”