It was senior night for the Ohio State women’s basketball team at the Schottenstein Center, and guard Samantha Prahalis and center Jantel Lavender sent their teammates out with a show in a 78-47 victory.

After a close and physical first half which ended with a 30-25 OSU lead, the Prahalis-Lavender show began.

Just five minutes into the second half, the Buckeyes had increased their five-point lead to 19. A flurry of Prahalis assists and Lavender points beat the Northwestern Wildcats into submission and put the game away early.

Lavender finished the game with 26 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, continuing her reputation as a double-double machine. She scored the first points of the game and delivered the knockout points to seal the 78-47 victory for OSU.

Prahalis made sensational passes and shots and earned plenty of cheers from the crowd. She ended the game with 14 points and 14 assists, tying her highest assist total for the season.

Prahalis caught fire in the second half, scoring nine of her points and getting 10 of her assists. She matched her first half stats in just the first seven minutes of the second half.

“We were just flowing very well and everyone was hitting shots. I think it’s just us playing together and getting back to the way we used to play, having fun,” Prahalis said.

It was the seniors’ night and they took advantage of the extra minutes from coach Jim Foster. Maria Moeller shot 3 of 4 from behind the arc and finished with nine points. Andrea Walker scored six points, grabbed six rebounds and had three blocks in her final regular season game as a Buckeye.

The difference between the first and second halves was extreme. The Buckeyes shot only 40 percent from the field in the first half and 33 percent from 3-point territory in the first half. In the second half, OSU shot 62 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.

“I think we really looked at ourselves at halftime and said ‘It’s senior night, okay, we have to get past all of this emotion and just come out and play extremely hard,'” Lavender said.

Coach Foster said that he thinks the team should always play like it did in the second half because that’s who they are, but that they “sometimes forget that.”

The defense was also a major factor. The full-court press and zone defense in the first half let OSU control the game. The Wildcats had no answer to the zone the whole game and every tactic they deployed was countered perfectly by OSU.

After the game, OSU was awarded the Big Ten Championship trophy and cut down the nets. After the nets were down, a song came over the speakers that made the whole squad break into dance at midcourt.

This is the fourth Big Ten title for the senior class and the teary ceremony before the game showed how important they are to the team.

“[The seniors leaving] is really sad because they’re not just great players, they’re great teammates and friends,” Prahalis said. “It’s like a second family and you’re seeing them every day and you’re not going to see them anymore. It’s sad.”