After struggling through the heart of its season, the Ohio State women’s basketball team finished strong, winning its final nine games and earning a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Buckeyes (22-9, 10-6 Big Ten) are playing their first game of the tournament in Columbus against the University of Central Florida, the No. 13 seed in the Dayton region. If OSU beats the Knights (22-10, 12-4 C-USA), its second game will be against the winner of No. 5 Georgia Tech (23-10, 9-5 ACC) and No. 12 Bowling Green (28-4, 13-3 MAC), also in Columbus.
Led by senior forward Jantel Lavender, four-time Big Ten Player of the Year, the Buckeyes will look to make a run out of Columbus, possibly to meet No. 1 Tennessee (31-2, 16-0 SEC) in Dayton.
The No. 1 overall seed in the tournament is UConn (32-1, 16-0 Big East). The Huskies have won the NCAA Tournament championship the past two years, and look to repeat this year out of the Philadelphia region.
OSU plays UCF in the first round at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at St. John Arena.
