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Ohio State just seems to make it look easy - and it certainly helps to have three-time B1G Ten player of the year leading the way.
This quarterfinal matchup of Ohio State v. Rutgers inevitably turned into the “Kelsey Mitchell v. Rutgers defense” show.
The Scarlet Knights just could not slow Kelsey Mitchell down, as she put up 22 points for the Buckeyes. This was a threat that Rutgers indeed saw coming, as Mitchell is notorious for doing damage to them.
Back in the 2016 tournament, when she was just a sophomore, Mitchell put up a tournament record, 43 points against the Scarlet Knights. Dang Kelsey, must be tough when you set a record so high, that you have to fight against yourself to beat it.
So to some people, 22 points may seem like a fantastic showing. But when you’re Kelsey Mitchell, it’s just another day at the office. I even believe that was her holding back, saving some energy (and some points) for their Semi-Final game today.
However, I’ll give Rutgers credit; they really held their own…in the first quarter. That was until the Buckeyes took off and ran, reaching a lead of 36 points in the second half.
Rutgers just had the cards stacked against them from the start, playing in their second game in just over 24 hours. But they also didn’t help themselves. The second and third quarters looked sloppy and careless from the Scarlet Knights. They only put up 7 points in each of those quarters, until they finally woke up in the fourth with some energy, which at that point, a win was far out of their reach.
The B1G Ten Bracket is looking as predictable as you’d expect at this point, with the top 4 seeded teams in the Quarterfinals today. So those games will undoubtedly be filled with some high-quality basketball, but c’mon bottom ten teams! You couldn’t have given us one big upset?
Well, there is still more basketball to be played. #4 Minnesota has a massive job ahead of them, as they take on the “too hot to be stopped” Ohio State tonight in the Semifinals. Maybe that’s where we’ll get our big upset! Or maybe not. Let’s be real, its Ohio State we’re talking about. If Kelsey Mitchell has anything to do with it, we’ll be seeing another blow out tonight.