DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS — Ohio State will hit the road — traveling all of about 3 miles — to play in the women's NCAA tournament.

The Buckeyes (27-5), regular-season and tournament champions of the Big Ten, received a No. 3 seed and will be the host school at the downtown Nationwide Arena for first- and second-round games this Saturday and March 23. They play Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart in the first round.

Coach Jim Foster was pleased with drawing the hometown if not homecourt advantage.

"Well, Nationwide (Arena) is not home," he said with a grin. "But we're in Columbus. Given the alternative and that this is exam week and we have traditionally hit the road, the fact that we're here and don't have to get on a plane and fly is a good thing."

Sacred Heart (25-7) is the 14th seed.

In the other first-round game at Nationwide on Saturday, Texas (21-11) takes on Mississippi State (22-9). The winners then meet 48 hours later.

Ohio State comes into the tournament on a hot streak, having won eight in a row. The Pioneers of Sacred Heart trump that, with 21 straight wins heading into the tournament. They have not lost in 2009.

They completed a perfect run through the conference and tournament with a 74-66 victory over Saint Francis (Pa.). It was their second title in four years.

Leading the way for the Pioneers are Alisa Apo (17 points a game), tournament MVP Kaitlin Sowinski (16.1 points, 7.6 rebounds) and Callan Taylor (11.7 points a game)

Ohio State sophomore center Jantel Lavender is a two-time Big Ten player of the year. She scored 21.1 points and grabbed 10.9 rebounds to lead the league in both categories. Lavender is mobile, and Foster has added freshman point guard Samantha Prahalis, 15th in the nation at 4.8 assists per game.

After first-round losses each of the last two years — and a second-round knockout three years ago when the Buckeyes were a No. 1 seed — Foster realized he had to approach the game differently. He recruited more athletes, and instead of reining in players in a halfcourt offense he let them freelance and run.

"(It was) where basketball was going," he said of the changes in philosophy. "If you look, it's a much more athletic game, a much more up and down game. If you're going to compete with those (teams) that are winning, you've got to be more athletic and you've got to be able to get up and down the floor and you've got to do some of the things that they do."

Prahalis is the trigger in the Ohio State transition game. In just her first year with the program, the freshman said she recognized that Foster was willing to retool everything to be competitive with elite teams.

She said it was clear that the quick eliminations had worn him down.

"I know that he's probably frustrated because they lost," Prahalis said. "He just basically tells us the past is the past and that happened in past years, that now we're a different team. We don't really dwell on it. We know that this year is different."

Lavender, who despite being 6-foot-4 can run the floor with anybody, said the transformation has bred confidence.

"We have all the tools necessary to be a successful team in the postseason," she said. "We have great players here. We have power forwards who are out of this world, like Star Allen. Our point guard (Prahalis) is magnificent, and our 3-point shooters have stepped up extremely well in the postseason — Brittany Johnson and Ashlee Tribilcock. That will make us a very successful team in the tournament."

Playing in their 18th NCAA tournament, the Buckeyes are upbeat and ready to go.

Foster likes where his redesigned team has gone.

"Yes, (this is) much different," he said. "I like the youth, the excitement. There's an expectation amongst the players themselves. They're holding themselves to a higher standard."