PREVIEW: #10/14 Ohio State at South Point Shootout

Nov. 25, 2015

RELATED INFO

#11/14 Ohio State at South Point Shootout

Date: November 27-28, 2015 | Venue: South Point Arena | Location: Las Vegas, Nev.

TV: None

Radio: 1460 AM

Online Coverage: Game Notes | Watch Live | Twitter Updates |

Setting the Scene

The Buckeyes have won their last two games and will look for two more victories this weekend when they head west for the South Point Shootout in Las Vegas, Nev.
Ohio State will tangle with Liberty on Friday, Nov. 27 at 5:15 p.m. ET and then face No. 10/9 Texas A&M on Saturday, Nov. 28 at 3:00 p.m.
Both games will be streamed online at
sporttourslive.net.
Ohio State enters the weekend with a 2-2 mark overall and ranked No. 11 in the AP poll and No. 14 in the Coaches Poll.
Liberty is also 2-2 on the season but has dropped it’s last two contests. Texas A&M is a perfect 4-0 and is coming off wins at No. 14 Duke and against rival TCU.
The games can also be heard on ESPN 1460 AM in the Columbus area and on www.OhioStateBuckeyes.com.

Noting The Buckeyes

Sophomore Kelsey Mitchell is 34 points away from 1,000 in her career. Mitchell has played 39 games thus far and the Big Ten record for fastest to 1,000 career points is 47 games by Penn State’s Kelly Mazzante (2001-04).
Forward Alexa Hart has blocked at least one shot in 24-straight games. Hart swatted a single-season school record 129 shots last season.
The Buckeyes are facing their third top-10 team of the season when it tangles with No. 10/9 Texas A&M.
Ohio State was the first team in NCAA history to open a season against the top two ranked teams in the country.
Senior Ameryst Alston and sophomore Kelsey Mitchell were each named to the preseason Wooden Award Watch List.
Ohio State returns all five starters and eight of its nine letterwinners from last season.
The Buckeyes return all but 32 of their school-record 2,836 points as well as all but 36 of their 1,420 rebounds from last year.

South point Shootout

This will be Ohio State first appearance at the South Point Shootout.
The last tournament title of any kind for the Buckeyes was the 2011 Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis. Ohio State rolled to wins over Iowa, Michigan State and Penn State that year.
The Buckeyes last regular season tournament title came in 2009 when they won both the Preseason WNIT and the Buckeye Classic. All four wins from the WNIT and the two wins from the Buckeye Classic came in Columbus.
The last regular season tournament Ohio State won away from Columbus was the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout in 2000. The Buckeyes captured victories over Valparaiso and Rhode Island.
In all, the Buckeyes have won five regular season tournaments away from Columbus:
– 2000 Great Alaska Shootout (Anchorage, Ala.)
– 1997 Oakland Tribune Classic (Oakland, Calif.)
– 1982 Lady Brahman Christmas Inv. (Tampa, Fla.)
– 1981 Giusti Tour. of Champions (Portland, Ore.)
– 1979 Princeton Inv. (Princeton, N.J.)

Liberty Snapshot

The Flames enter the weekend with a 2-2 record overall.
Liberty downed Appalachian State and Elon in its first two games before dropping its last two to NC State and James Madison.
Ashley Rininger leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 15.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game.
Sadalia Ellis is averaging 14.5 points per contest and tops the squad with 12 assists and 11 steals.
Liberty won 26 games last season, including winning the Big South regular season and tournament titles.
The Flames joined the Buckeyes in Chapel Hill last March for the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Liberty fell to North Carolina in the opening round.

Series History vs. Liberty

Ohio State and Liberty have met one previous time with that game coming on Jan. 9, 2005.
The 9th-ranked Buckeyes won that game 66-51 in Columbus.
OSU ran out to a 14-0 lead and held Liberty scoreless for the first nine minutes.
Current Ohio State Director of Operations Beth Howe scored two points and had one assist in the game.

McGuff vs. Liberty

Head coach Kevin McGuff is 0-1 lifetime against the Liberty.
The loss came on Nov. 25, 2007 in the championship game of the National City Xavier Invitational when Liberty topped McGuff’s Xavier squad 61-56.

Texas A&M Snapshot

The Aggies opened the season with a pair of dominating victories over Texas State and Southern and then continued that roll by knocking-off No. 14 Duke in Durham. That was followed by a win over in-state rival TCU last Saturday.
Texas A&M is led by a pair of Courtneys. Courtney Walker is shooting nearly 60 percent from the floor and is averaging 18.0 ppg. Courtney Williams is not far behind her at 14.3 ppg.
Jordan Jones is the third Aggie averaging in double-figures at 12.0 ppg and has dished-out a team-high 28 assists.
The Aggies are a good defensive team, holding their opponents to just 36 percent from floor and are out-rebounding their opponents by nearly eight boards a game.

Series History vs. Texas A&M