Bowling Green is about 125 miles away from the Ohio State campus.However, Jim
Foster’s OSU head women’s basketball coach, is not pleased with making the trip
to the Stroh Center this weekend for the NCAA tournament. The Buckeyes (25-6)
face Florida (19-12) Sunday with tipoff at 12:15 p.m.Foster is upset the
Buckeyes were only a No. 8 seed for the tournament.“In 26 years of being
involved in this tournament, this is the most egregious thing I have witnessed,”
Foster said. “We finished second in our league, had eight wins against the RPI
top 50, finished the non-conference 13-0, reached the semifinals of our
conference tournament and feature the Big Ten player of the year in Samantha
Prahalis.“We beat some very good teams who finished in the top third of their
league in LSU, Oklahoma and California — two of those on the road. This team
deserves much better than the seed we were dealt.”If Ohio State beats Florida,
the Buckeyes will play the Baylor-UC Santa Barbara winner Tuesday at 7 p.m.,
also in the Stroh Center.“We’re still excited to be in the tournament and to
have the opportunity to take on a very good SEC opponent in Florida,” Foster
said. “If we can win, then we get the opportunity to take on a great team in
Baylor and go up against a great player in Brittney Griner.”Ohio State has two
of the top guards in the country — Tayler Hill, a 5-10 junior; and Prahalis, a
5-7 senior.Hill is averaging 20.3 points per game, while shooting 41.6 percent
on 3-pointers (79-of-190).Prahalis is averaging 20.1 points and 6.4 assists per
game. Prahalis, the only senior on the OSU roster, can also shoot the 3-pointer,
making 62-of-176 (35.2 percent).Ashley Adams, a 6-5 sophomore, leads the team in
rebounding at 6.7 per game.Amber Stokes, a 5-10 redshirt junior, was the Big Ten
defensive player of the year.As a team, the Buckeyes are averaging 75.1 ppg
while allowing 62.6.Florida has played some tight games, with 10 of their 12
losses coming by six points or less.“This team has had that idea right there in
the forefront of their mind all season long. Game one loss versus Michigan all
the way through the SEC tournament and this is absolutely what they deserved,”
said Florida head coach Amanda Butler. “It’s just fun. There’s so many tense
moments, so many disappointing moments, great moments, hard moments, a lot of
hard work that goes in.”Butler knows the way to Bowling Green. She was a junior
on Florida’s 1993 team who defeated the Falcons 69-67 in an NCAA tournament game
at venerable Anderson Arena.“When things historically overlap like that it’s fun
to talk about,” Butler said. “It’s a great place where girls’ and women’s
basketball is important.”The Gators’ Jennifer George, a 6-0 junior, became a
force this season, averaging 13.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Her rebound
average was second in the Southeastern Conference.Jordan Jones, a 5-9 redshirt
senior, is averaging 11.6 ppg and is shooting 34.9 percent on 3-pointers
(66-of-189).The Gators are a bruising rebounding team, averaging 42.5 rebounds
per game. In addition to George’s 9.0 rpg, Azania Stewart, a 6-4 senior, is
averaging 5.6 rpb, and Lanita Bartley, a 5-6 senior, is averaging 5.1 rpgBartley
leads the team with 3.2 assists per game.Florida was one of the last four teams
to be selected for the tournament and may have been the last of the 64 teams
picked.“I don’t care — last four in, first four in — we’re in and that’s all
that matters at this point,” Jones said. “I’m thankful we’re in and that’s all I
have to say about that.”Butler said her team got better later in the
season.“They played at a consistent high level all throughout January and
February, and I think that was certainly a factor,” Butler said.The Gators also
played a tough schedule.“We tell our team at the beginning of the year that
we’re doing this on purpose. This isn’t just we have a bunch of games we happen
to be playing against good teams,” Butler said. “We have a purpose to prepare us
first and foremost for the SEC season because we know how grueling and
competitive that’s going to be and then give us a chance at an at-large
opportunity if that’s what our fate is.”(The Associated Press contributed to
this story.)