64-59 Final Buckeyes clinch their sixth straight title outright. That truly is a magnificent accomplishment.
I think this game shows a little growth from some of the recent road struggles. They worked hard to overcome a tough scoring day and everyone stayed aggressive on the offensive end, continuing to take good looks even if they had missed before, looking to penetrate rather than settling for jumpers, working the glass, etc. Itb wasn't pretty but you have to find ways sometimes and they did today. Free throw shooting was excellent: 26-30 overall, Sammy 12-12, Tayler 7-10 - a realkey on a day when the team shoots 35% overall and only 2-12 from 3.
Sammy 19 pts, 8 assists (only 2 turnovers), 6 reb, 3 steals
Jantel 14 pts 9 boards 2 blocks and a steal
Tayler 13 pts and very aggressive intelligent play throughout the second half especially after Minnesota started denying Sammy the inbounds and she had to run the offense
Sarah 3 pts - but it was big and gave the Bucks their first lead at 42-39 midway thru the 2nd half - and 4 boards
Brittany didn't score but played good defense and stayed aggressive on the offensive end
Andrea 9 pts off the bench plus 6 boards and a block in extended minutes to offset Minnesota's physical inside play
Alison, Amber and Shavelle with 2 apiece - Shevy was a terror in the second half, disrupted Minnesota's offensive sets and came away with 3 reb and 2 steals
As for "dribbling too much" and "missing wide open people upcourt" (?- didn't see that at all) - Minnesota's defense was tough, aggressive and physical all game and combined with OSU's cold shooting from the outside caused the Buckeyes to dig down and win a slugfest with very tough d of their own and a hard nosed offense that worked for everything it got. There were some possessions where the ball was dribbled alot looking for an opening inside but that was mostly a credit to the GGs, IMO. I'd take this as much more of a positive than the close wins at Michigan or at home against Wisconsin earlier in the year which seemed to be blah efforts. It does point out that this team is going to have to adapt more quickly when things aren't working (instead of waiting on a halftime adjustment as happened today) - but then again surviving these regular season games is (hopefully) how you learn what needs to be done for a better postseason run.