Buckeyes, Chippewas meet with Sweet 16 spot at stake (Mar 18, 2018)
COLUMBUS -- Ohio State breezed through the first round of the NCAA Tournament without the usual prolific offensive performance from All-America guard Kelsey Mitchell.
Mitchell, averaging 24.5 points per game, scored just 11 to match her season low and made just 4 of 11 shots from the field in an 87-45 blowout of George Washington on Saturday at St. John Arena. But she did contribute seven assists and helped set up teammate Stephanie Mavunga for her 19th double-double of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
"It's not so much about individual performances, per se, it's about group effort," Mitchell said. "And when you're playing in the NCAA, you're surviving, that's just what it is."
The next step for third-seeded Ohio State in the Spokane Region is to get past Central Michigan on Monday night in the second round.
The winner moves on to Spokane next weekend for the regional semifinals.
Central Michigan, the No. 11 seed, was a surprising 78-69 winner over sixth-seeded and 24th-ranked LSU in the first round.
"The thing I liked about Central is that they scored around the basket and scored from the perimeter," Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said. "They have good balance in their game and that ultimately was the difference between them and LSU. They're good. We'll have a real tough matchup."
The game will match two conference champions -- Ohio State (28-6) from the Big Ten and Central Michigan (29-4) from the Mid-American Conference.
The Buckeyes were sluggish at times in their NCAA opener after not playing since winning the Big Ten tournament on March 4, but they eventually pulled away for their 12th win in the past 13 games.
"Overall, I was pleased with our effort," McGuff said. "We had stretches where we were really good, but we also had some stretches where we were sloppy and had some silly turnovers. I think it was a really good performance from us after not playing for two weeks."
Contributing to the win in addition to Mitchell and Mavunga were Alexa Hart (12 points, five rebounds) and Linnae Harper (10 points, six rebounds, four assists). Senior guard Asia Doss returned after sitting out the Big Ten Tournament with an ankle sprain to add eight points in 22 minutes.
"I think the good and positive about our team is that have just so many different players with so many different abilities," Mavunga said. "If one person is down or one person wants to facilitate that day, someone could just easily step up."
Central Michigan's upset of LSU in its first appearance in the Big Dance since 2013 was the first NCAA Tournament win in program history after eight losses. LSU had not lost to a double-digit seed since 1991.
"We have a smart basketball team and they really executed our game plan," Central Michigan coach Sue Guevara said. "It's a very big accomplishment for our program and I would say for our senior class."
The Chippewas did it with a big push from MAC Player of the Year Tinara Moore, who finished with 25 points and seven rebounds. Micaela Kelly had 17 points, MAC Tournament Most Valuable Player Reyna Frost contributed 12 points and 12 rebounds, and junior guard Presley Hudson added 12 points and eight assists as Central won for the 21st time in its past 22 games.
"I can't say enough about our players," Guevara said. "Our players came out and threw the first punch, and we just kept going. It's a first win for us, a nice one."
But Guevara, a former Ohio State graduate assistant who faced the Buckeyes when she was the head coach at Michigan from 1996 to 2003, was ready to refocus after the first win by a MAC team in the NCAA tournament since 2009.
"We did this last week (in the MAC Tournament), so you know, been there, done that," she said. "It's time to move on."
Ohio State's five seniors would like to move on to Spokane for the regional and eventually back to Columbus for the Final Four on March 30 and April 1 at Nationwide Arena.
To do that, the Buckeyes will likely get more scoring as the stakes get bigger from Mitchell, who needs 20 points to pass Jackie Stiles of Missouri State to become No. 2 in career scoring in NCAA history. Mitchell already has the NCAA record with 491 3-pointers.
"The thing that makes her really special, she's capable at putting up 30 points on a given night or she can help other people," McGuff said.
