A little more than a week has passed since one of the stunners of the women's college basketball season when then No. 6 Ohio State headed to Syracuse, N.Y. and promptly were suffered a 75-66 loss to an unheralded Syracuse team.

Senior center Jantel Lavender, who had 26 points, eight rebounds, two steals and three blocks against the Orange, believes the loss was a blessing in disguise.

"We were too complacent," Lavender said. "It was kind of a wake up call just to say 'hey, if you come out like this against UConn, you are going to be a part of a blowout.' I think (her team knows) the intensity and level we need to play against UConn because they don't stop, they play for 40 minutes. They go after every loose ball, they do everything necessary to be the best and that is why they are No. 1. I think that loss did bring us together and it did (tick) us off a little bit. It helped us more than it hurt."

What hurt the Buckeyes against Syracuse was the offensive struggles of the other key Ohio State players. Senior Sarah Schulze missed all six of her field-goal attempts and was held scoreless while fellow starters Tayler Hill, Samantha Prahalis and Brittany Johnson were 14 of 40 from the floor. Also, none of the three reserves who got into the game attempted a shot.