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OSU women's team dominates Big Ten awards
Monday, March 2, 2009 7:42 PM
By Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Sophomore center Jantel Lavender repeated as player of the year, and Ohio State capped its fifth consecutive Big Ten regular-season championship by sweeping four of the top five awards today in voting by the coaches and media for the all-conference women's basketball teams.
Lavender, the leading scorer and rebounder in the Big Ten, was the only unanimous first-team choice by both voting groups. Point guard Samantha Prahalis, who leads the conference in assists, was selected as freshman of the year by the coaches and media.
Coach Jim Foster also was chosen as coach of the year by his peers and the media. He had won that award three previous times.
Ohio State junior guard Shavelle Little also repeated as defensive player of the year, a selection made by the coaches. The coaches also picked Purdue guard Brittany Rayburn as the sixth player of the year.
The media rated Prahalis as a second-team member, while the coaches placed her among the honorable mentions. Senior forward Star Allen was voted onto both third teams.
The Buckeyes have won the player of the year award for five consecutive seasons. Jess Davenport won the three awards prior to Lavender's co-selection with Wisconsin's Jolene Anderson last season.
Cont...
Can't complain about that draw really. We get to play in Columbus the first two rounds and we're in the region with the lowest rated of the #1 seeds in Duke. The only drawback would be a possible Sweet 16 matchup with Stanford in Berkeley which would be a virtual home game for them, but still not unwinnable. Pretty pleased overall.BB73;1431704; said:The tOSU Women got a #3 seed in the Berkeley Region, and will play #14 Sacred Heart in Columbus on Saturday, March 21st.
It's a good seed, based on their season, and they avoided being in the same region as UConn, which is a plus.
Other top seeds in that region:
1 - Duke
2 - Stanford
4 - Iowa St
5 - Tennessee
6 - Texas (possible 2nd round opponent, if they beat #11 Miss St)
9 - Mich St
Ohio State draws Sacred Heart in women's NCAA
By Rusty Miller
Associated Press
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
COLUMBUS ? Ohio State will hit the road ? traveling all of about 3 miles ? to play in the women's NCAA tournament.
The Buckeyes (27-5), regular-season and tournament champions of the Big Ten, received a No. 3 seed and will be the host school at the downtown Nationwide Arena for first- and second-round games this Saturday and March 23. They play Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart in the first round.
Coach Jim Foster was pleased with drawing the hometown if not homecourt advantage.
"Well, Nationwide (Arena) is not home," he said with a grin. "But we're in Columbus. Given the alternative and that this is exam week and we have traditionally hit the road, the fact that we're here and don't have to get on a plane and fly is a good thing."
Sacred Heart (25-7) is the 14th seed.
Cont...
OSU's Foster certain Buckeyes women can break hex of early NCAA exits
by Doug Lesmerises/Plain Dealer Reporter Monday March 16, 2009, 11:16 PM
Darron Cummings/Associated Press
Ohio State head coach Jim Foster and star Jantel Lavender expect a better result in this year's NCAA Tournament, after a recent history of early exits.
Saturday's game: Ohio State vs. Sacred Heart, at Columbus, 2:30 p.m.
COLUMBUS -- Every year it's the same -- Ohio State women's basketball coach Jim Foster holds a watch party at his home for the NCAA Tournament selection show, the Big Ten champion Buckeyes are given a high seed, the players smile confidently ... and then they exit the tournament long before they're supposed to. (Last year was made more interesting by a reporter stepping on and sinking into the tarp covering Foster's in-ground pool.)
The first Big Ten team in 22 years to win five consecutive conference titles, the Buckeyes are 72-12 in the Big Ten regular season the last five years and 3-4 in the last four years of the NCAA Tournament. Foster, speaking generally of college basketball, bemoans the idea that the only thing that people care about is the NCAA Tournament. When you're so dominant in your league and so disappointing in the NCAAs, that's magnified 10 times over.
"I get that vibe all the time," said Ohio State sophomore center and Cleveland Central Catholic grad Jantel Lavender, the Big Ten Player of the Year. "It's what you do in the Big Dance. The regular season is great, but it's like, what can you do against the best teams in the country and how can you perform against those teams that are No. 1 in their conferences also?"
Cont...
OSU women starring off the court, too
Buckeyes' program one of 14 in the NCAA tournament with 100 percent graduation rate.
Associated Press
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Fourteen women's basketball teams in the NCAA tournament, including Ohio State, have perfect graduation rates.
That list also includes the tournament's top seed, undefeated Connecticut, according to a report released by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.
Of the other No. 1 seeds, Duke has a 90 percent graduation rate, Oklahoma is at 69 percent and Maryland is at 67 percent.
The other schools with 100 percent graduation rates are DePaul, Evansville, Florida, Lehigh, Marist, Notre Dame, Sacred Heart, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Vanderbilt and Villanova.
The graduation rates were based on whether freshmen who entered school between the 1998-99 and 2001-02 school years earned diplomas within six years.
Cont..
Gatorubet;1432580; said:S-E-C!!
Bucky Katt;1435346; said:Women's game against Sacred Heart has just tipped off. SH up 3-2 at the 16:22 mark.
Sacred Heart is in a zone. Need some dribble penetration from Prahalis to free up Lavender and Allen.
Now 4-5 at 15:30