COLUMBUS, Ohio — No. 3 Ohio State dominated the first 4 minutes and West Virginia never came close to recovering over the last 36.
Samantha Prahalis had 14 points and 12 assists, and the Buckeyes scored the first 17 points to roll past the Mountaineers 92-69 Thursday night in the semifinals of the Preseason WNIT.
“I told the team that’s why they’re No. 3 in the country and we’re not ranked,” West Virginia coach Mike Carey said. “We have to learn how to play that hard and that aggressive. We came out standing around and they came out attacking; we came out being attacked.”
The Buckeyes (3-0) will host Oklahoma State on Sunday in the Preseason WNIT championship game, also at their own Value City Arena.
Preseason All-American Jantel Lavender led Ohio State with 19 points, and freshman Tayler Hill added 14. Brittany Johnson had 13, Shavelle Little 11 and Maria Moeller 10 for the balanced Buckeyes, who shot 60 percent from the field.
The Mountaineers (2-1), who got 23 points from Liz Repella, pulled to 27-19 with under 7 minutes left in the half. But the Buckeyes went on an 11-0 run.
