No. 3 Ohio State face No. 2 UConn Saturday in Sweet Sixteen

Mar 21, 2023 - 3:01 AM

The Ohio State women’s basketball team took care of their home games in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Now the Buckeyes move on to the regionals, and heading to the Sweet Sixteen to face the Scarlet & Gray are the UConn Huskies.

UConn, an 11-time NCAA Champion, got to the round of 16 by beating the Baylor Bears on the Huskies’ home court in Storrs, Connecticut. The Big-12’s Baylor Bears started off with a down but quickly turned the tide in the first quarter.

After the first quarter though, the Huskies slowly got back into the lead, Baylor hung in before and after halftime, but at the end of the third quarter, UConn went up big.

Runs of six and 10 points gave the home team a 12-point lead entering the fourth quarter. Guard Azzi Fudd was the catalyst of the third quarter for the Huskies. The star scored 16 points in the third, outscoring Baylor single-handedly 16-15.

Head coach Geno Auriemma’s side beat the Bears 77-58. Now UConn has eyes set on the Ohio State Buckeyes Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena, in Seattle, Washington.

Ohio State and UConn have played only six times in their long NCAA histories. In all six games the Buckeyes are 0-6, with no game ending with the Scarlet & Gray within 10 points of the Huskies.

The last time the two sides competed, it was Nov. 24, 2019. Ohio State lost 73-62 and the Buckeyes’ roster featured four current players who will be on the roster Saturday: guard Jacy Sheldon, forward Rebeka Mikulášiková, currently injured guard Madison Greene and forward Dorka Juhasz.

Of those four, only three stayed with Ohio State. Following the 20-21 season, Juhasz transferred to head coach Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies, playing the last two seasons. Since moving to UConn, Juhasz’ role increased due to injuries within the Huskies roster.

After starting 15 games and appearing in 32 overall last season, Juhasz’ sophomore season found the fifth year graduate senior starting every game for the Huskies. The forward from Hungary averages 14.3 points and 10 rebounds per game for UConn. Saturday is the first time the two sides face each other since the transfer.

Before Saturday’s opponent was settled on UConn, head coach Kevin McGuff was asked about potentially playing the Huskies. He sees similarities between Ohio State and UConn.

“I’ve watched them some this year and they have had a season sort of like ours, in that injuries have really impacted them,” said McGuff. “They have had the highest of highs and they have also had a few lows, mostly because of they just haven’t had the same team throughout the year.”

No time is set for the match-up, with games still going on Monday night in the NCAA Tournament’s Second Round.