Brianna Sanders journal: High energy not enough for Ohio State to advance in Big Ten tournament

Friday, March 8

Day 3:

Rise and shine, its game day! It’s another day in Chicago, and another day in the B1G tournament. Today we are going up against a very talented Penn State team! We played them once earlier this season and lost. Last time we played we had an awesome first half, but could not match that same energy in the second half. Today will be about playing a full 40 minute game! We are ready! This morning I woke up and the cleaning lady was outside of our door. I am rooming with Lisa Blair who is a 6'7 center from New York, and the cleaning lady was so amazed at how big she was when she entered our room. All she kept saying was "wow, sooooo big". I thought it was hilarious because I call her "Big Lisa" all the time but hearing somebody else say it was hilarious. The cleaning lady even asked for a picture with her. It was the funniest moment in my life.

Of course for breakfast I filled my plate with bacon and topped it off with maple syrup! What more could a girl like me ask for? Heaven on earth! While eating breakfast I told the rest of my team the story about Lisa and the cleaning lady and they all found it just as funny as I did. Trying to tell the story without laughing was a hard task but I eventually got the job done.

My mother and little brother made the trip to the tournament last night from Cincinnati, so I went and spent some time with them before shoot around. I am a big kid at heart, so I grabbed two pillows and decided it was time for a pillow fight, whether they were ready or not. Of course I came out as the winner! Undefeated champ! If anyone wants to battle, let me know! I never turn down a pillow fight!

Shoot around was the same as every other shoot around. Went over the other teams stuff and also went over what we would do to be able to be successful against this team. Energy was extremely high, and the focus was top notch. It was a very intense hour of shoot around, and I couldn't wait for 6 pm to hit so we could get this game started!

At around 4 pm, we loaded the bus to head to the Arena! The energy has carried over from shoot around and you can just see the intensity in every ones eyes! We need this win and we plan on getting it!

The first half of play was extremely well played on both ends! Defensively, we did everything we were supposed to do and on the offensive end we were getting everything we wanted! It was a great game to watch on the sideline, and you can tell everyone was having fun while working hard! We ended the half down by 2 but knew the game was still ours. Second half Penn St came out like the great team that they are. Went on a run early and we just could not fight back to get back into the game. We made an extremely late run within the last two minutes of the game -- but it was not enough. We fell short to Penn St and the B1G season is over for us!

Before I close this journal I would like to thank our seniors Tayler Hill, Amber Stokes, and Emilee Harmon for being excellent teammates -- and even better people to be around and play with! I have enjoyed my four years with you guys, and I hope whatever you guys end up doing after school is a success! I love you guys! Until next time, GO BUCKS!!!