Hudson, Kelly lock down Big Ten Player of the Year Kelsey Mitchell in NCAA Tournament
The Big Ten Conference regular season featured senior guard Kelsey Mitchell. She was the star of the show, earning herself the Big 10 Player of the Year recipient.
However, in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament against the Central Michigan women’s basketball team, the Ohio State guard came up short in an effort to advance her team to the Sweet 16.
The No. 11-ranked Chippewas (30-4) defeated the Buckeyes (28-7), 95-78. Ohio State was ranked No. 3 in the Spokane region.
With CMU junior guard Presley Hudson and redshirt freshman guard Micaela Kelly guarding her closely, Mitchell struggled from the field, shooting 11-of-29 from the field, 6-of-16 from the 3-point line and missing her only opportunity from the free throw line.
“Down the stretch, things started scrambling,” Mitchell said. “Our rotations were really all over the place.”
Mitchell, who came into the game averaging 24.5 points and 4.1 assists per game, scored 15 points against CMU. The 5-foot-8 guard chipped in one rebound and three assists.
“The way they played throughout the course of the 40 minutes was very amazing,” Mitchell said. “Everyone talks about the AMC for what it is and what it is not, but at the end of the day, they’re a great team.
“They deserve everything they got.”
Even though Mitchell was the player struggling from the field for the Buckeyes, redshirt seinor forward Stephanie Mavunga took notice.
“We were trying to play hard and compete,” Mavunga said. “Central Michigan did a good job of capitalizing off our mistakes. We had a lot of turnovers in the first half and that really showed. It really hurt us down the stretch.”
Mavunga finished the game shooting 7-of-12 from the field for 16 points. She added in 15 rebounds, two steals and three blocks in the 95-78 loss.
