Buckeyes Back Home to Host Lady Lions Wednesday

Noting Ohio State

• Ohio State returns home for a pair of games this week starting with a matchup vs. the Lady Lions of Penn State on Thursday.
• The teams played a very interesting game on Jan. 17 in State College. Penn State used a 28-2 run that spanned the third and fourth quarter to build in 18-point with six minutes to play. The Buckeyes answered with a 22-4 run to close regulation and send the game to overtime where they eventually won 76-71.
• Penn State is one of just two teams that leads the all-time series with Ohio State as the Lady Lions hold a 36-29 advantage all-time. But the Buckeyes have won each of the last eight games in the series dating back to 2014.
• The Buckeyes just finished their fifth week of the season in which they played three games in a seven-day span. They went 2-1 in three of the weeks and 1-2 in the other two.
• Carly Santoro has scored in double figures in each of the last five games and leads the team with 12 games of 10 or more points.
• As a team, Ohio State has made the third-most three-pointers (76) in conference play and is fourth in three-point shooting percentage at 36.5.
• Freshman guard Janai Crooms has scored nine or more points in eight of the last nine games and she is averaging nearly 12 points per game over that stretch.
• Point guard Carmen Grande is just one assist from 800 in her career. The NCAA active assist leader, men or women, is averaging over six assists per game over the last seven games.
• Dorka Juhász has recorded six double-doubles this season. She also has seven games of 10 or more rebounds and leads the team in both scoring and rebounding.
• Makayla Waterman scored a career-high 18 points in the win over Illinois, leading the Buckeyes to a season-high 78 points.

Series History vs. Penn State

• Wednesday’s matchup will be the 66th meeting all-time between Ohio State and Penn State.
• Penn State is one of just two Big Ten teams that Ohio State has a losing record against as the Lady Lions lead the all-time series 36-29.
• After losing five in a row from 2012-14, the Buckeyes have won eight-consecutive in the series, including the overtime victory earlier this season in State College.
• The Buckeyes’ best streak came from 2005 to 2011 when OSU won 13 of the 14 meetings.
• Ohio State trails in the all-time series in Columbus 13-12.

McGuff vs. Penn State

• Head coach Kevin McGuff is 9-3 all-time against Penn State.
• He is 8-2 against the Lady Lions as head coach at Ohio State. He also split a home-and-home series with Penn State while coaching at Xavier.
• The McGuff led Musketeers dropped a 73-66 decision in overtime at Penn State in 2006 and then topped PSU 72-68 in Cincinnati in 2007.
• McGuff and the Buckeyes are currently riding n eight-game win streak against Penn State.

Last Time vs. Penn State

• Ohio State erased an 18-point deficit with 6:07 left to force overtime and completed the comeback in the extra session, escaping with a 76-71 victory at Penn State on Thursday night.
• The star of the night was freshman Janai Crooms who scored a season-high 27 points and also grabbed a season-high eight rebounds. She was 12-of-15 from the floor and made two huge buckets late in regulation and overtime.
• Fellow freshman Dorka Juhász notched a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds. The Hungary native scored 14 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
• Makayla Waterman added 10 points and four rebounds while disrupting a number of shots around the rim.
• Carmen Grande scored eight points and dished-out a season-high 12 assists.
• The game featured huge runs both ways. Penn State turned an 8-point third quarter hole into and 18-point lead with a 28-2 run. The Buckeyes bounced-back with a 22-4 run to tie the game at the end of regulation.
• Ohio State shot 46.8 percent for the game and won the battle on the boards 37-32.
• The Buckeyes led by two at halftime and Crooms scored six quick points in the third quarter to force a Penn State timeout. The Lady Lions came out of the timeout and finished the quarter on a 19-2 run over the final eight minutes to grab a 54-45 lead headed to the fourth. Crooms scored all eight of the Buckeye points in the quarter.
• The lead ballooned to as many as 18 points three minutes into the fourth quarter. That’s when the Buckeyes comeback began. Waterman and Grande each hit three-pointers and Juhász and Crooms scored six points at the rim to cut the lead to 63-59 with 2:32 to play. Juhász then stepped outside and hit a pair of threes to cut the lead to two at 67-65 with a minute to go. After a PSU miss, Grande hit Crooms on a backdoor cut to tie the score and send the game into overtime.
• PSU scored the first three points of overtime and the score stayed that way until Carly Santoro hit a three from the wing with 1:14 to play. Crooms then scored her 27th point on a similar backdoor lay-in to give the Buckeyes a 72-70 lead. After PSU split a pair of free throws, Juhász took a pass from Crooms on an out of bounds play with 12 seconds left and scored plus the foul to seal the game.