The No. 25 Ohio State women’s basketball team will play its third-straight game against a ranked Big Ten opponent tonight, and the Buckeyes need a win.

Playing at home shouldn’t hurt their chances.

The Buckeyes will take on No. 14 Minnesota at 7 p.m. at the Schottenstein Center.

OSU suffered two tough defeats last week on the road.

The first was a 15-point loss at Penn State, a game in which the Buckeyes went down early and were never able to come back.

The second defeat was much closer. OSU held a lead late against Purdue but couldn’t keep it, and the Boilermakers battled back to take the win.

The Golden Gophers are led by guard Lindsay Whalen, a strong scorer averaging over 22 points per game. She is also the Big Ten Conference leader in assists at just under seven per game.

The Buckeyes know they need to play better, but it will not be easy.

“They are very talented offensively,” said OSU coach Jim Foster. “They are one of the most talented we will see all year.”

Foster said his team played harder at Purdue than Penn State, but not smarter.

Despite the losses, Foster was able to find something positive in the loss at Purdue.

“I think last year they lost by 40 there, so the effort was good,” Foster said. “It is just that the mental has to get better.”

OSU guard Caity Matter agrees the Buckeyes played hard.

“We competed the entire game at Purdue,” she said. “We were in it in the end and had a chance to win.”

The Buckeyes missed a number of chances late in the game to get a win, and Foster was quick to point to those chances as something his team needs to convert.

He said his team is better defensively than offensively at this point in the season.

Despite coaching in the Southeastern Conference last season, Foster said he is very impressed with the Big Ten.

“This league is full of March teams, and we have to be able to beat them to be one of them,” he said.

Before the Buckeyes look to March, they have to take care of business tonight against the Golden Gophers.

and Matter is looking forward to getting back out on the court.

“We have a great opportunity to get back out there at home to beat a quality team,” Matter said.

In order to beat the Gophers, Matter believes OSU needs to be patient in what it tries to do on the court.

“We feel if you shut us down in one aspect we will hit you with another, and if you shut that down, we will hit you with another,” Matter said. “We are just waiting to hit the next level.”

Even after the two losses at Purdue and Penn State, the Buckeyes still have their sights set on a possible conference championship and NCAA Tournament appearance.

“This program hasn’t been in this position for a long time, contending for a Big Ten title,” Matter said. “So there is no reason to have down spirits.”

Forward Courtney Coleman echoed Matter’s sentiments.

“I’ve never had a chance to win the title, so it’s fun to be in the race,” she said. “This is what I expected from the beginning.”