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- Thread starter OSUsushichic
- Start date
Need to give the Buckeye wahine some credit. A 31 point beat down of the #14 team in the nation? Pretty impressive win.
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crazybuckfan40
Head Coach
Yeah I watched the first half and part of the second half and they were darn impressive. Davenport was dominating.
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
2/21/06
2/21/06
NO. 6 OHIO STATE 69 | NO. 14 MICHIGAN STATE 38
Defense smothers Spartans
OSU limits Michigan State to 28.6 percent shooting; Foster gets victory No. 600
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG> NEAL C . LAURON | DISPATCH Kim Wilburn of Ohio State knocks the ball away from Laura Hill of Michigan State during the second half.
An air ball under the Ohio State basket led to a tipped rebound attempt followed by a mad scramble, which ended in a four-player scrum beyond the three-point arc.
What happened next summed up how differently the evening went for the Buckeyes and Michigan State last night in Value City Arena.
OSU center Jessica Davenport shoveled the loose ball to Marscilla Packer, who calmly knocked down a three-point basket that could just as easily have been a sledgehammer between the eyes.
A Big Ten game that looked like a red-hot contest on paper turned into a 69-38 rout for the sixth-ranked Buckeyes (23-2, 13-1) and the 600 th career win for OSU coach Jim Foster.
The Buckeyes, playing in front of 7,400 fans, took a one-game lead in the conference standings over second-place Purdue (21-4, 12-2), their opponent Thursday night.
The win was the 14 th in a row for an OSU team that appears to be improving in each game. Davenport paced the Buckeyes with 22 points, her 45 th consecutive game in double figures.
As neatly as the offense executed, the defense played better, holding the No. 14 Spartans (20-8, 10-5) to 28.6 percent shooting from the field.
"We were definitely all over the place on defense," senior forward Debbie Merrill said. "Defense just sparks our offense so many times. I definitely felt that we were really together tonight."
The ease of the OSU victory clearly surprised Michigan State coach JoAnne P. McCallie. Senior standouts Lindsay Bowen and Liz Shimek combined to score 10 points. None of the Spartans reached double figures.
"I’d like to give credit," McCallie said. "I thought they outplayed us, outfought us, out-hustled us, outcoached us, out-everythinged us for 40 minutes. We’ll make no excuses. That’s just the way the game went."
No matter what the Spartans tried, the Buckeyes appeared to have the answer. They tried to shut down Davenport with double-team help in the first half and she still scored 18 points in 19 minutes. They concentrated on taking away the threepoint line from the OSU guards, and Packer and Kim Wilburn delivered two treys in the final minute before the break to give the Buckeyes a 42-23 lead.
"I thought our defensive intensity was good," Foster said. "The second half we could have done a few things better, but we never lost focus on the defensive end. They’re a very experienced and talented basketball team."
Davenport scored 31 points against the Spartans in the 67-65 win in January in East Lansing. She set the tone in this game by calling for the ball on the block.
"They were a lot more aggressive in the way they defended me in this game than the last game," she said. "I was just making sure that I was in a position to get the ball in places where I could score. We’ve been playing well offensively in practice and it just carried over into the game."
Davenport had plenty of help. Brandie Hoskins attacked the basket for 14 points while adding seven rebounds and five assists. Merrill contributed 13 points and five rebounds.
"We just played well," Hoskins said. "We talked the whole game on defense, and we talked the whole game on offense. We just played probably the best game since we’ve been here. Hopefully, we keep getting better every game."
[email protected]
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
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MolGenBuckeye
Legend
Just a fantastic effort by the women last night. We beat them in every phase of the game.
The nice thing I've seen as the year has progressed is how we're much more creative on offense now. Back in the beginning of the season, we would try to dump it down low to Davenport, and if that didn't work, we looked lost. Now, we're willing to swing the ball around, reverse it, and actually take some good outside shots to free up the lane.
Oh, and nothing was as funny as watching MSU collapse four defenders on Jessica last night and having her still score. :)
The nice thing I've seen as the year has progressed is how we're much more creative on offense now. Back in the beginning of the season, we would try to dump it down low to Davenport, and if that didn't work, we looked lost. Now, we're willing to swing the ball around, reverse it, and actually take some good outside shots to free up the lane.
Oh, and nothing was as funny as watching MSU collapse four defenders on Jessica last night and having her still score. :)
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
2/22/06
2/22/06
OSU WOMEN
Buckeyes ready to settle matters
Ohio State can clinch Big Ten title with win over Purdue
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG> NEAL C . LAURON | DISPATCH Jessica Davenport was exceptional in a win over Michigan State on Monday, but she was limited to a season-low 10 points in the first meeting with Purdue.
During an October interview at the Big Ten media day in Chicago, Purdue junior Katie Gearlds had a wish for the upcoming season.
After enduring a rare subpar campaign in 2004-05, Gearlds had her fingers crossed that the road to the conference championship would run through West Lafayette, Ind., again.
Four months later, the 11 th-ranked Boilermakers have a chance to make the wish come true, even if a stumble Sunday against Indiana diverted the travel plans to Columbus.
Purdue (21-4, 12-2) needs a win over No. 6 Ohio State (23-2, 13-1) on Thursday in Value City Arena to prevent the Buckeyes from winning their first outright Big Ten title in 20 years.
"It’s a great week," Purdue coach Kristy Curry said. "It is an opportunity to play for a championship."
In the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 1 at Purdue, the Boilermakers won 61-59. They then held onto at least a piece of first place until Indiana pulled off the 63-61 overtime upset.
The Buckeyes, Curry knows, have won 14 consecutive games since the New Year’s Day meeting. The streak includes a 69-38 dismantling of No. 14 Michigan State on Monday.
During a teleconference yesterday, Curry ticked off the strengths of the Buckeyes.
"I think they’re playing great basketball right now," she said. "They’re clicking on all cylinders. Debbie Merrill is hitting the high-post shot better. Jess (Davenport) is at the top of her game. You can’t give (Marscilla) Packer any open looks.
"It will take the game of the year from us to have a chance to win."
In the first encounter, the Boilermakers packed the low block and held Davenport to five shots and a season-low 10 points. Packer kept the Buckeyes close with a 19-point performance that included five three-point baskets.
"Packer was just left wide open, and I struggle a little with that," Curry said. "We gave her five threes here, which was too many, and seemed to leave her. It’s not like they’re setting a lot of screens for her. She’s either spotted up in transition or you just leave her. We can’t leave her Thursday night."
Leaving any OSU player unguarded right now is dangerous, with Merrill’s offensive game expanding and Brandie Hoskins shaking off a midseason slump.
Michigan State tried to double-team Davenport and take away the perimeter. The Spartans discovered how Davenport has added to her repertoire when the 6-foot-5 junior spun away from defenders and used the backboard to score.
"We were not bad on Jess," Michigan State coach JoAnne P. McCallie said.
"I know that sounds funny to say that, but that bank shot, that nice little turnaround bank, she is much more agile now in her ability to score.
"Once upon a time, if you just took those blocks away and forced her a little wider . . . But that Jess is no more. She can go wider. Sometimes she goes wider by choice."
Purdue is aware of the dangers OSU presents but happy that its dream remains alive. A win over the Buckeyes would create a first-place tie and push the deciding games to Sunday when OSU travels to Penn State and the Boilermakers go to Wisconsin.
"You look on what people expected (in October) and there were 14 kids and four coaches that expected what we’re doing right now," Curry said, referring to her team and staff. "We’re going to keep driving every day to be the best we can."
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
scout.com (free)
2/23/06
Game preview by Dave Biddle. The Ladies have a chance tonight to clinch their first outright Big Ten Title in 20 years.
2/23/06
Game preview by Dave Biddle. The Ladies have a chance tonight to clinch their first outright Big Ten Title in 20 years.
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
2/23/06
2/23/06
Seniors have a shot at exiting with Big Ten title
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG>
For the players already at Ohio State, more than their lives changed four years ago when the university hired Jim Foster to coach the women’s basketball team.
"We came in and we recruited," Foster said. "We told Jess Davenport and Brandie Hoskins that we want to compete for a national championship. We want to win the Big Ten.
"Now all of a sudden, there’s a whole different focus.
The expectation level goes up. You do one of two things. You ratchet it up and walk into the environment with that mind-set or you don’t. And they did."
The last three standing from that holdover group — senior guards Ashley Allen, Kim Wilburn and Candace Dark — have the opportunity in the final home game of their careers to be part of Ohio State’s first outright Big Ten championship since the 1986-87 season.
To capture the title, the sixthranked Buckeyes (23-2, 13-1) have to go through No. 12 Purdue (22-4, 12-2) at 8 tonight in Value City Arena. The Boilermakers were the dominant team in the conference when Foster arrived.
"This is something I’ve dreamed of since the day I set foot in here," Wilburn said. "To be a good team, you’re going to have to go through playing the past dynasties. (Tonight) will be a great time to prove ourselves."
Four years ago, the aforementioned trio had to prove itself to the new coaching staff. Allen, now a redshirt senior, had a year under former coach Beth Burns. Dark and Wilburn were the final recruiting class of the former staff. All admit to butterflies.
"I was nervous because I didn’t know where I would fit in or what the style was," Wilburn said. "I knew the team, and I knew everybody was competitive. But I didn’t know the coaching staff."
Dark, likewise, wondered whether Foster would want her.
"I’m not going to lie," she said. "In the very beginning, it was scary. He could have very easily said, ‘Be on your way.’ But he made us welcome and made us part of everything."
In the ensuing years, the three have played different roles. Allen, recruited as a shooting guard, shifted to the point in 2004-05. Wilburn started at the point as a freshman and sophomore, but Allen’s rise has changed her role to first guard off the bench. Dark has played far fewer minutes but is regarded by Foster as one of his best practice players.
"We’re the last of the last," Allen said, smiling. "I was excited for the change. He made us comfortable with his first visit. That helped a lot. He actually made me a little nervous because he said, ‘Ashley, I know you shoot from deep.’ I thought, ‘Oh gosh.’ "
She had to alter her game to fit the team concept that Foster preached.
"I scored a lot in high school," Allen said. "Changing from a shooting guard to a point guard is different. You have the ball as much, but it’s not to score. It’s to assist people in scoring."
The Buckeyes are 15-0 this season in games Allen has started. Wilburn will end her career as the only player in program history with more than 350 steals and 500 assists. Dark will take satisfaction in helping to build a national power.
"My freshman year, our goal was to just make the (NCAA) tournament and to have a 20-win season," Dark said. "We’ve done that every year. Now we’re contenders for a national championship. I feel very blessed that I’ve been part of it."
[email protected]
Thursday, February 23, 2006
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Dispatch
2/24/06
2/24/06
COMMENTARY
There’s no denying the progress that Foster has made
Friday, February 24, 2006
BOB HUNTER
</IMG>
When Jim Foster first came to Ohio State to talk to school officials about its vacant women’s basketball position, the job requirements were posted on the walls of the Schottenstein Center.
A younger, greener coach might have missed them. After serving 24 years as head coach at St. Joseph’s and Vanderbilt, Foster didn’t.
"When I came here and interviewed for this job and I walked through the hallways, very quickly I understood what mattered here," he said. "Because the only things on the wall around here are championship teams. You go to another gym, there’s sweet sixteens, elite eights, final fours . . . but around here they don’t hang banners to those titles. The (only things) they hang up are Big Ten champs and national champs. So you know what it is walking in."
What it is has never fazed him, although it seemed like a pretty tall order at the time. Before Foster became coach in the spring of 2002, the Buckeyes hadn’t won a Big Ten title since they shared one in 1992-93, and truthfully, they hadn’t even been close.
In the Big Ten, winning even a piece of the championship has never been easy, which is why the shared title last year, in just Foster’s third year as OSU coach, was a significant accomplishment. The 67-58 win over Purdue last night made it two in a row, and more important, it clinched this one outright.
You don’t win an outright championship in the Big Ten every day, every year or even every decade. The last time the Buckeyes won one was 1985-86, when the women’s game was almost a different sport from what it is now.
An outright title versus a shared title?
"I’m not a nit-picker," Foster said.
But still . . .
"I think when you win a league like this with the kind of caliber of teams that are in this league . . . " Foster said. His voice tailed off. "We had to beat three ranked teams in a row.
"We’re sitting there with one loss and we’re looking at Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan State, Purdue. The four best teams in the league and we have to play them back-to-back-to-back-toback, and we stepped up to that challenge. I think that’s a tough thing to do mentally and physically."
An outright Big Ten title might not be that different, but it is another step in Foster’s remarkable job of program building.
As you get closer to the top, the steps get harder and harder.
The early ones are easy. When the program isn’t clicking, it’s not that hard to win some games and create a wave of optimism. Then the next year you try to win some more, and sometimes, a lot of times, progress gradually grinds to a halt.
Foster didn’t let that happen at OSU. So it is that his first OSU team in 2002-2003 followed a 14-15 season with a fourth-place tie in the Big Ten that got it into the NCAA Tournament, where it has been every year since.
If there is one thing that has been consistent during the Foster era, it’s that the line on the progress chart has made steady movement up.
In the Big Ten, his teams have gone from that fourthplace tie to third to a tie for first to first.
After two years of secondround losses in the NCAA Tournament, the Buckeyes advanced to the third round before losing last season. It’s pretty clear that he has plans for his sixth-ranked Buckeyes beyond the third round this time.
"I’m sort of happy (the schedule) was set up (this) way to be quite frank with you," Foster said, "because we know we’re going to be in the post-season, so why not just play really good teams. That’s who you’re going to play in March."
It’s not all about March, though. Foster smiled when he was asked what the next step was for his Buckeyes, and this time, he didn’t have to look any farther than Sunday. "We haven’t beaten Penn State at Penn State," he said. If it’s not the required step, it is one more way of stating the obvious.
Progress is progress.
Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch
.
[email protected]
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BuckeyeSkins
Go Bucks/Hail to the Redskins!!
I attended the game last night and Nationwide passed out white towels that had tOSU logo on them for us fans to wave. To the right of where we were sitting were a bunch of fans from Purdon't. One of them decided it was necessary for him to throw one of the towels on the floor and do a tap dance on it. After the game I walked by him and asked if he thought the dance was beneficial to his team and he just walked away.
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