Ohio State’s Mitchell dominates Play4Kay Showcase

Kelsey Mitchell once again proved why she is one of the top players in the country over the holiday break.

The senior guard for Ohio State was named espnW National Player of the Week and Big Ten Player of the Week after nabbing MVP honors during the Play4Kay Showcase last week in Las Vegas.

The three-time All-American averaged 30.3 points with 4.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists in the three games last week, including a season-high effort of 37 points in a thrilling overtime victory against No. 14 Stanford in the championship. It was the second win for the Buckeyes against Stanford this season having beaten the Cardinal, 85-64, on November 10. Stanford held Ohio State to just 32 percent in the first half and led 58-49 through three quarters before Mitchell and Asia Doss led the Buckeyes back for the OT win and improve to 7-1.

Doss scored 15 to complement Mitchell, who tied Big Ten and school records with 19 of 20 free throws made.

Also around the Big Ten, Iowa and Minnesota each improved to 7-0 to remain the lone undefeated schools in the conference.

Minnesota freshman guard Destiny Pitts was named conference Freshman of the Week and listed on the Weekly Honor Roll for leading the Golden Gophers to a pair of victories in the Lady Rebel Round-Up hosted by UNLV. Her 15.7 points and 10.7 rebounds over the two games was good enough to be tabbed as the MVP. It was the second-consecutive week Pitts was named as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week. Her 11.4 rebounds per game this season is good for third in the Big Ten.

The Hawkeyes remained undefeated with three big victories in the Puerto Rico Classic against Morgan State, Charlotte and Elon. Once again, Megan Gustafson continued her dominance for Iowa averaging 20.3 points and 10.7 rebounds with double-doubles in each contest. In the championship game against Elon, redshirt freshman Alexis Sevillian posted 21 points off the bench.

Gustafson currently ranks 4th in the conference with 21.3 points per contest and tops the league with 13.4 rebounds per game.

Maryland won all three of its matchups last week, including a 79-71 win against Miami (FL) in the final of the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament.

Michigan's Hallie Thome also joined Pitts and Gustafson on the Honor Roll with 23.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in Michigan's wins against Oakland and Ohio last week.

Illinois almost became the fifth Big Ten school (Ohio State, Maryland, Iowa, and Minnesota) to win its Thanksgiving tournament, but fell 97-68 in the final of the New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament to the host school New Mexico.

All 14 Big Ten schools are getting ready for the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge this week with the following matchups, including a pair of top 25 tilts:

On Wednesday:

Minnesota at North Carolina, 3:30 p.m.

No. 3 Notre Dame at No. 22 Michigan, 6:00 p.m.

Wisconsin at Pittsburgh, 7:00 p.m.

No. 15 Maryland at Virginia, 7:00 p.m.

No. 13 Florida State at Iowa, 8:00 p.m.

On Thursday:

North Carolina State at Rutgers, 6:00 p.m.

No. 8 Ohio State at No. 14 Duke, 7:00 p.m.

Purdue at Georgia Tech, 7:00 p.m.

Michigan State at Miami (FL), 7:00 p.m.

Wake Forest at Penn State, 7:00 p.m.

Northwestern at Syracuse, 7:00 p.m.

Virginia Tech at Illinois, 8:00 p.m.

No. 4 Louisville at Indiana, 8:00 p.m.

Clemson at Nebraska, 8:00 p.m.