Northwestern lacrosse got the best of the Buckeyes this afternoon, as did Wildcat softball yesterday. One NU team couldn’t handle the scarlet and gray Saturday afternoon, and their loss marked the end of an era.

Ohio State’s women’s tennis team beat Northwestern 4-1 in the Big Ten Tournament semi-finals Saturday afternoon in Evanston. With the loss, the Wildcats are eliminated from the conference tournament. This is the first season since 1999 that Northwestern as not won either the regular season or conference tournament title, a span of 16 seasons.

The Buckeyes took a competitive doubles point by winning both #1 and #3 doubles by the score of 8-6. Ohio State won #1 and #3 singles in straight sets to take a 3-0 lead, placing the Wildcats one point away from elimination.

Erin Larner won for Northwestern at #2 singles in three sets to cut the OSU lead to 3-1, but the Buckeyes’ Miho Kowase outlasted NU’s Alex Chatt in three sets at #4 singles to give Ohio State the 4-1 victory.

Second-seeded and 18th-ranked Ohio State faces top-seed and 12th-ranked Michigan tomorrow for the conference tournament crown.

The Wildcats await a potential 17th straight NCAA tournament bid, which would have to be of the at-large variety. NU finishes the season at 15-7, 9-2 in Big Ten play.