The Ohio State women’s basketball team was given the ninth seed in the Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament bracket Sunday after beating No. 5 seed Michigan at home earlier that afternoon, 66-55.
The Buckeyes (17-12, 7-9 Big Ten) outshot the Wolverines (20-9, 9-7 Big Ten), making 54 percent of their shots compared to Michigan’s 50 percent.
OSU, however, made 11 of 15 free throws, while Michigan only made 5 of 6, allowing the Buckeyes to hold on to the lead they had grabbed with 8:32 left in the first half.
After the game, redshirt senior guard Amber Stokes said the win was an ideal note to head into the conference tournament.
“We needed the confidence-booster going into the Big Ten tournament, so this is great,” she said in a press release.
OSU is scheduled to take on No. 8 seed Minnesota (18-12, 7-9 Big Ten) in the first round of the tournament Thursday.
The Gophers hold a 2-0 record against the Buckeyes this season.
They first beat OSU in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 10, dropping the Buckeyes to a 0-3 Big Ten record for the first time since 2001.
On Feb. 21, the Gophers came to Columbus and beat OSU, 57-56, thanks to a last-second jumper from Minnesota sophomore guard Rachel Banham.
OSU coach Jim Foster said after Sunday’s game against the Wolverines that his team had taken the Minnesota loss to heart and improved as a result of it.
“You lose a game like the Minnesota game and some folks are going to use the ‘woe is me’ approach and I think this group did just the opposite of that,” he said in a press release.
“They came out and were resilient.”
The Buckeyes have won four tournament titles, three of which came from consecutive tournaments from 2009-2011.
OSU heads into its contest against the Gophers with several Buckeyes who earned Big Ten honors this past week. Freshman guard Ameryst Alston earned her second Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors for the week of March 4, while senior guard Tayler Hill was named First Team All-Big Ten for the second season in a row.
Hill was also named to the Big Ten’s All-Defensive team for the third consecutive season, along with Stokes, who made the list for the second year in a row.
Redshirt sophomore Amy Scullion received the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for OSU.
OSU is set to take on Minnesota at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. The winner of that game is scheduled to face No. 1 seed Penn State Friday at 7 p.m.