CPD
Buckeyes not upset by getting sixth seed
Tuesday, March 18, 2008 Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- For Ohio State, less respect is better. A year after losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament as a No. 4 seed, and two years after getting upset in the second round as a No. 1 seed, the Buckeyes were handed a No. 6 seed Monday night.
Coach Jim Foster will take this, because at least this 6 is on an upswing, adding players instead of losing them.
"Two years ago, that team was good and we had a bad matchup. That was a disappointment," Foster said of a loss to No. 8 Boston College. "That's the scenario of the NCAA Tournament."
Last year, the Buckeyes never recovered from the season-ending injury to their all-everything guard, Brandie Hoskins.
"We were just a different team after Brandie went down," Foster said. "Brandie was unique. We weren't going to play the way we had played all season long."
Now, when the Buckeyes (22-8) play No. 11 seed Florida State (18-13) in Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, they should be better than they've been all year.
Monday, they got back forward Star Allen, who started 10 games before sitting out the winter quarter, and the last 18 games, with academic issues. She did continue to practice, though. She's back because the winter academic quarter is over, and she got her schoolwork in order.
"I'm a huge fan of the quarter system," Foster said with a smile.
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