The undefeated and top five ranked Buckeyes roll into Williams Arena minus a few pieces (Madsion Greene and presumably Jacy Sheldon) but fresh off a victory over the Michigan Wolverines. Gopher fans remember Sheldon’s 32 point and 7 assist performance in last season’s 83-75 win over the Gophers in Minneapolis. Taylor Mikesell who dropped 17 against the Gophers needs to play a key role this time around.
Ohio State (4-0) has won 10 straight from Minnesota (1-2). The last Gopher win in late February 2016 was a memorable 90-88 OT thriller. On Senior day, Rachel Banham scored 35 points before fouling out. Carlie Wagner picked up the slack with 26 points. It was a crazy ending. A Jesse Edwards put back gave Minnesota the lead with under a second remaining. Then, Ohio State advanced the ball and scored on an Alexa Hart layup. In OT, Wagner scored after coming around a Jesse Edwards death screen with tenths of a second left. This time, OSU’s Kelsey Mitchel couldn’t get off a shot and the Gopher looked NCAA bound with a top five victory in hand. Those NCAA hopes took serious hit in the next game: a 110-77 loss at Maryland (history repeats itself a little too often).