The Ohio State Buckeyes women’s basketball team was all that was left. After the men fell to the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday night, the women were left holding the hopes of Buckeyes fans everywhere. As a No. 4 seed they had reached the Sweet 16 where the top-seed Tennessee Volunteers were waiting. Led by Pat Summitt, a coach with well over 1,000 wins, it wasn’t going to be easy.
For 20 minutes, the Buckeyes held their own and actually led the Vols 42-40 at halftime. While they were scoring at will, the Volunteers had also dropped 40 points on the Buckeyes. The story would be who would tighten up the defense first.
Advantage Tennessee.
Shekinna Stricklen scored 14 of her 20 points in the 2nd half and the Volunteers used a critical 11-3 run in the 2nd half to get past the Lady Buckeyes 85-75 in the 2011 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
The game was back and forth throughout, with Tennessee only grabbing control in the final five minutes. Samantha Prahalis scored 22 points while dishing out 7 assists while Jantel Lavender added 19 points as Ohio State finished their season at 24-10.
Up next for Tennessee is Notre Dame, who beat Oklahoma 78-53.