[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

3/29/06

OSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Davenport gets two honors

Center on All-America, USA teams

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

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Good news washed up like waves against Jessica Davenport yesterday outside the Ohio State women’s basketball locker room.

The Buckeyes’ junior center and two-time Big Ten player of the year expected the first splash. The other served as a pleasant surprise.

Davenport had known for two months that she would be one of four college players joining the USA Basketball senior national team for its spring training trip to Australia in April.

She also learned that she had been selected a second-team All-American by the Associated Press. Davenport made first team a year ago, but shrugged off the drop with a smile.

"Any type of All-America is good," she said. "We had a great season this year. I think I’ve had a great season, and it’s just a reflection that."

The Buckeyes (29-3) won the Big Ten regular season and tournament championships and were a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before losing to Boston College in the second round.

Davenport led the conference in scoring, rebounding, fieldgoal percentage and blocked shots. She feels that she ended the season as a better all-around player than she started.

"I think that anybody that is with this program, the players and coaches, know that I’ve expanded my game this year and I’ve gotten better," Davenport said.

She views the trip to Australia as an opportunity to improve. She will be joined by collegians Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles of Louisiana State and Cappie Pondexter of Rutgers. The four hope to make the USA team for the FIBA World Championships in Sao Paulo, Brazil, in September.

Former OSU All-American Katie Smith, a member of the Detroit Shock of the WNBA, is among the veteran players on the team.

"Playing against the best players in the world I think will be a great opportunity for me to gain experience," Davenport said. "A lot of those people are WNBA players, something I aspire to be. And playing with Katie Smith, I’ve known her for a long time, I know while I’m down there she’ll help me out."

Ohio State coach Jim Foster is pleased Davenport will have the chance to play against nationalteam competition such as Australia, China and Taiwan.

"Any time you play against better players, it challenges you to get better," he said.

Although Foster believes that Davenport has improved, he has a goal for her next season to draw more fouls. He is aware that she probably led the Big Ten in contact without drawing a referee’s whistle.

"We’re going to have to make sure it happens," Foster said. "She just needs to be strong to the basket and toward the lane a little bit. I think that stuff makes a difference."
Surgery for Hoskins



Not all the news was good for the Buckeyes. Junior guard Brandie Hoskins underwent surgery Monday to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon. She suffered the injury in the final minutes of the Boston College game. Foster would not speculate on when Hoskins would be back.

"That stuff is all relative to the individual, how quickly they heal and how the rehab goes," Foster said. "She has got a mind-set that she wants to be back quickly."

jmassie@dispatch.com