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Ohio State Women’s March Madness Memories: Jessica Davenport’s perfect day
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
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Ohio State University athletic department
The freshman center set the foundation for what Buckeye fans could expect for the next three seasons.
Before Kelsey Mitchell scored 45 points against the West Virginia Mountaineers in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, freshman center Jessica Davenport was making life difficult on Ohio’s neighbor to the east. On March 20, 2004, exactly 12 years before Mitchell’s downhill scoring day, Davenport had a performance that was quality over quantity when the Columbus native introduced herself on the biggest stage — March Madness.
Davenport came from the Southeast side of Columbus, as a standout for Independence High School. The No. 2 recruit in the 2003 recruiting class was basketball obsessed in the latter years of high school, but heading into high school, Davenport felt pressured to play. Standing at 6-foot-5, Davenport was constantly asked “do you play basketball?”
“The pressure was annoying at times because everywhere I went people would ask me if I played basketball,” said Davenport. “Once I really got into playing the game and developed a winning attitude, I realized playing basketball would take me somewhere. That’s when I started to like it and eventually love it.”
Like most star high school players, Davenport played AAU ball on the amateur level and that took her around the country to play in tournaments. That experience confirmed to Davenport that she did not want to be far away from her family, so Ohio State was the obvious choice.
When Davenport joined the program, the Buckeyes were on a cold spell in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournament. Since the 1993 season ended in grand fashion, going up against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the NCAA Final, Ohio State made the NCAA Tournament only three times in the next 10 seasons.
Ohio State was also on a 10-season stretch without a Big Ten conference or tournament title. Davenport was the first marquee recruit for head coach Jim Foster, who ran the program started one year before Davenport arrived on campus.
The 2003 season began the Buckeyes’ road back to prominence, and it began with Davenport.
As a freshman, the center made an immediate impact, leading the Buckeyes in rebounds and blocks in Davenport’s first season, and continued that through all four years at Ohio State. While the Buckeyes still missed out on any conference hardware in Davenport's 2003-04 debut, the side lost to No. 3 Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament by only three points. Plus, Ohio State had its best conference record in 10 years at 11-5, earning the Scarlet and Gray a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Playing in Columbus against the No. 11 West Virginia Mountaineers, Ohio State tried to pick up their first home win in March Madness since 1993 against a West Virginia side playing in their first NCAA Tournament since 1992.
West Virginia and Ohio State’s matchup would have been a battle inside the paint but the Mountaineers lost two bigs to knee injuries during the regular season, forcing head coach Mike Carey’s side to play a four-guard system.
Compare that to the interior duo of 6-foot-5 Davenport and 6-foot-3 senior forward/center LaToya Turner and perception leans towards WVU’s ability to outpace the Buckeyes.
“We like to consider ourselves a bad matchup,” Foster said. “On film, sometimes people don’t realize that our post players can run. People just make a generalization that bigs don’t move very well. Our big kids can flat-out run, and it gives us a different dimension.”
West Virginia starred two All-Big East selections with senior guard Kate Bulger, who led the Big East shooting 39.3% from beyond the arc. An accomplishment made even more impressive considering the UConn Huskies featured basketball legend Diana Taurasi. Also, junior guard Yolanda Paige who was fourth in the NCAA with 7.9 assists per game, and top of the Big East in finding teammates who could score.
So, for the Buckeyes to avoid an upset, they had to be perfect. Davenport stepped up to the challenge.
In the first half (women’s basketball did not shift to four quarters until the 2015-16 season), there was nothing between the two sides for the first 10 minutes. Each team traded blows and the lead changed five times before the Mountaineers pushed the pace. West Virginia got out to a seven-point lead, their largest of the half, with 2:27 remaining.
Davenport responded, grabbing an offensive rebound and hitting the second chance points, giving the freshman 13 in the first half. Those two points not only cut into the lead but started a seven-point run to end the period, putting all things level at 38-38 entering halftime.
Foster’s plan for the second half was simple — keep getting the ball to Davenport.
The freshman scored nine of the first 15 points of the half, which gave Ohio State a six-point lead that the Scarlet and Gray would not give up. Davenport went a perfect 10-of-10 from the floor, only the third time in program history anyone would accomplish the feat, and the only time in the NCAA Tournament.
“Jess [Davenport] probably should have gotten the ball a lot more,” guard Kim Wilburn said. “I think it’s on the guards to get her and LaToya the ball more because they shoot such a high percentage. When Jess gets the ball, it’s going to a layup or she’s going to get fouled. So it’s up to us to get her the ball to her.”
However, that was the last scoring for Davenport in the game, leading all players with 22 points. Turner took over the inside game, hitting the last four points for a Buckeye big and that season’s leading scorer, guard Caity Matter, leading the team with 10 points in the second half.
The freshman star did not give the ball away once against the Mountaineers and added five blocks,
Ohio State avoided an upset and beat the Mountaineers 73-67. In the Second Round, the Buckeyes lost to No. 3 Boston College, who held Davenport to 2-of-10 from the floor. That was the last time Davenport was held to less than 10 points in her NCAA history. The center averaged 17.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3 blocks per game in eight March Madness appearances.
Davenport went on to lead the Buckeyes to three consecutive regular season titles and one conference tournament title in 2006. Individually, Davenport won the 2003-04 Freshman of the Year honor before adding three Big Ten Player of the Year awards in her final three seasons and became one of only four Buckeyes to earn multiple Associated Press All-American awards, winning three.
In 2012, Ohio State added Davenport to the Athletic Hall of Fame as the most decorated Buckeye in program history at the time when the center joined the WNBA in 2007. Davenport was a two-time OSU Scholar Athlete and Big Ten Academic All-Big Ten honoree. Also in 2012, Davenport played her final WNBA season, culminating in her only WNBA title as a member of the Indiana Fever.
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ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Ohio State University athletic department
The freshman center set the foundation for what Buckeye fans could expect for the next three seasons.
Before Kelsey Mitchell scored 45 points against the West Virginia Mountaineers in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, freshman center Jessica Davenport was making life difficult on Ohio’s neighbor to the east. On March 20, 2004, exactly 12 years before Mitchell’s downhill scoring day, Davenport had a performance that was quality over quantity when the Columbus native introduced herself on the biggest stage — March Madness.
Davenport came from the Southeast side of Columbus, as a standout for Independence High School. The No. 2 recruit in the 2003 recruiting class was basketball obsessed in the latter years of high school, but heading into high school, Davenport felt pressured to play. Standing at 6-foot-5, Davenport was constantly asked “do you play basketball?”
“The pressure was annoying at times because everywhere I went people would ask me if I played basketball,” said Davenport. “Once I really got into playing the game and developed a winning attitude, I realized playing basketball would take me somewhere. That’s when I started to like it and eventually love it.”
Like most star high school players, Davenport played AAU ball on the amateur level and that took her around the country to play in tournaments. That experience confirmed to Davenport that she did not want to be far away from her family, so Ohio State was the obvious choice.
When Davenport joined the program, the Buckeyes were on a cold spell in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournament. Since the 1993 season ended in grand fashion, going up against the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the NCAA Final, Ohio State made the NCAA Tournament only three times in the next 10 seasons.
Ohio State was also on a 10-season stretch without a Big Ten conference or tournament title. Davenport was the first marquee recruit for head coach Jim Foster, who ran the program started one year before Davenport arrived on campus.
The 2003 season began the Buckeyes’ road back to prominence, and it began with Davenport.
As a freshman, the center made an immediate impact, leading the Buckeyes in rebounds and blocks in Davenport’s first season, and continued that through all four years at Ohio State. While the Buckeyes still missed out on any conference hardware in Davenport's 2003-04 debut, the side lost to No. 3 Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament by only three points. Plus, Ohio State had its best conference record in 10 years at 11-5, earning the Scarlet and Gray a No. 6 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Playing in Columbus against the No. 11 West Virginia Mountaineers, Ohio State tried to pick up their first home win in March Madness since 1993 against a West Virginia side playing in their first NCAA Tournament since 1992.
West Virginia and Ohio State’s matchup would have been a battle inside the paint but the Mountaineers lost two bigs to knee injuries during the regular season, forcing head coach Mike Carey’s side to play a four-guard system.
Compare that to the interior duo of 6-foot-5 Davenport and 6-foot-3 senior forward/center LaToya Turner and perception leans towards WVU’s ability to outpace the Buckeyes.
“We like to consider ourselves a bad matchup,” Foster said. “On film, sometimes people don’t realize that our post players can run. People just make a generalization that bigs don’t move very well. Our big kids can flat-out run, and it gives us a different dimension.”
West Virginia starred two All-Big East selections with senior guard Kate Bulger, who led the Big East shooting 39.3% from beyond the arc. An accomplishment made even more impressive considering the UConn Huskies featured basketball legend Diana Taurasi. Also, junior guard Yolanda Paige who was fourth in the NCAA with 7.9 assists per game, and top of the Big East in finding teammates who could score.
So, for the Buckeyes to avoid an upset, they had to be perfect. Davenport stepped up to the challenge.
In the first half (women’s basketball did not shift to four quarters until the 2015-16 season), there was nothing between the two sides for the first 10 minutes. Each team traded blows and the lead changed five times before the Mountaineers pushed the pace. West Virginia got out to a seven-point lead, their largest of the half, with 2:27 remaining.
Davenport responded, grabbing an offensive rebound and hitting the second chance points, giving the freshman 13 in the first half. Those two points not only cut into the lead but started a seven-point run to end the period, putting all things level at 38-38 entering halftime.
Foster’s plan for the second half was simple — keep getting the ball to Davenport.
The freshman scored nine of the first 15 points of the half, which gave Ohio State a six-point lead that the Scarlet and Gray would not give up. Davenport went a perfect 10-of-10 from the floor, only the third time in program history anyone would accomplish the feat, and the only time in the NCAA Tournament.
“Jess [Davenport] probably should have gotten the ball a lot more,” guard Kim Wilburn said. “I think it’s on the guards to get her and LaToya the ball more because they shoot such a high percentage. When Jess gets the ball, it’s going to a layup or she’s going to get fouled. So it’s up to us to get her the ball to her.”
However, that was the last scoring for Davenport in the game, leading all players with 22 points. Turner took over the inside game, hitting the last four points for a Buckeye big and that season’s leading scorer, guard Caity Matter, leading the team with 10 points in the second half.
The freshman star did not give the ball away once against the Mountaineers and added five blocks,
Ohio State avoided an upset and beat the Mountaineers 73-67. In the Second Round, the Buckeyes lost to No. 3 Boston College, who held Davenport to 2-of-10 from the floor. That was the last time Davenport was held to less than 10 points in her NCAA history. The center averaged 17.4 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3 blocks per game in eight March Madness appearances.
Davenport went on to lead the Buckeyes to three consecutive regular season titles and one conference tournament title in 2006. Individually, Davenport won the 2003-04 Freshman of the Year honor before adding three Big Ten Player of the Year awards in her final three seasons and became one of only four Buckeyes to earn multiple Associated Press All-American awards, winning three.
In 2012, Ohio State added Davenport to the Athletic Hall of Fame as the most decorated Buckeye in program history at the time when the center joined the WNBA in 2007. Davenport was a two-time OSU Scholar Athlete and Big Ten Academic All-Big Ten honoree. Also in 2012, Davenport played her final WNBA season, culminating in her only WNBA title as a member of the Indiana Fever.
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