From: Buy Drugs target=”_blank”>Cleveland Plain Dealer –

Ohio State’s women will face St. Francis (Pa.) in the first-round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday.

It’s bad enough for St. Francis that it will face All-American Jantel Lavender. Unfortunately, it will also have to deal with point guard Samantha Prahalis.

Columbus Dispatch reporter Jim Massie takes an inside look at how Prahalis developed her game, and how she is often criticised by the way she plays.

“People either consider her out of control or amazing to watch,” OSU All-America center Jantel Lavender said. “I hear so many different things said about her. People say, ‘You’ve got to get your point guard under control,’ and she just made the game-winning pass to me. I wouldn’t want another point guard.”

Prahalis grew up on Long Island, N.Y. Her father helped her develop her skills by taking her to some of the toughest courts in New York.

“You go to Rucker Park or to W. 4th Street, and you’ve got serious people down there,” John Prahalis said. “Here she was, a 15- or 16-year-old white girl and playing on the cement. She pops a couple of threes, and all of a sudden everybody comes after her. Then she crosses (over on) them and they knock her down.”

Prahalis works two hours a day on her game outside of team practice and hones her skills by watching the best of the male players, going as far back as Pete Maravich, writes Massie. She can throw a length-of-the-court pass with the skill of a quarterback or drop a pass on the run between her legs to a trailing three-point shooter. She offers no apologies.

“I spend 95 percent of my life playing basketball,” she said. “You have to have fun with what you’re doing. God gave me 5 feet, 6 inches. I’ve got to make the game exciting out of a 5-6 body.”

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