Elite Eight bid falls short
Right: Ohio State’s Samantha Prahalis scored 19 points but it wasn’t enough as the Buckeyes lost to Stanford, 84-66. (AP Photo)
The Ohio State women’s basketball team’s trip down the Road to the Final Four came to an end at the Berkeley Regional semifinal as the third-seeded Buckeyes lost to the second-seed Stanford Cardinal, 84-66, at the Haas Pavilion, Saturday night.
Freshman point guard Samantha Prahalis scored 19 points and added six assists, while sophomore center Jantel Lavender chipped in 15 points and six rebounds, though she had to sit out a good portion of the second half due to foul trouble when she picked up her third personal with 15:03 left to play.
The Buckeyes biggest lead was six points early in the game as OSU rattled off eight of the game’s first 10 points to take an 8-2 advantage with 17:05 remaining after a jumper by Lavender.
From that point, Stanford went on a 7-0 run and it became a back and forth affair for the rest of the half.
With 6:30 left until intermission, a pair of free throws by Stanford’s Jeanette Pohlen put the Cardinal ahead 29-24. Ohio State, though, responded by going on a 7-1 run of their own after a three-pointer by Sarah Schulze was sandwiched in by baskets from Prahalis and the Buckeyes led 31-30 with 3:53 to go until halftime.
Andrea Walker’s bucket put OSU ahead 35-34 with 1:27 remaining, but Stanford took a 37-35 lead into the break after a triple by Lindy LaRocque 32 seconds later.
The second half was all Cardinal.
After Jayne Appel scored and was fouled by Lavender with 12:58 left in the game, Appel’s conventional three-point play put Stanford ahead 53-42. It was also Lavender’s fourth personal of the game, forcing her to the bench yet again.
Ohio State mounted another run, scoring 12 of the next 16 points in the game, and after a layup from Walker with 10:25 remaining, the Buckeyes made it a one-possession game at 57-54.
Unfortunately for OSU, they could not get any closer. Star Allen made one of her two charity stripe tosses with 5:39 to go that trimmed SU’s lead down to 66-62, but Stanford closed out the contest on a 18-6 scoring barrage.
The Buckeyes shot a blistering 51.7 percent from the field in the first half, but went cold in the second, only knocking down 9-of-30 (30.0%) shots from the floor. The Cardinal shot 41.1 percent (13-of-31) in the first, but pulled away in the second by going 20-of-34 (58.8%) from the field.
Along with Prahalis and Lavender in double figures for Ohio State was Schulze, who scored 12.
Appel led Stanford with 25 points, while Jillian Harmon added 16, Nnemkadi Ogwumike chipped in 15, and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude contributed 10 points for the Cardinal.
The Buckeyes finished the season with an overall record of 29-6.
