Lady Basketball Buckeyes Tidbits 2005-2006 Season

[SanAntonioBuck]

Way to go lady bucks!

[45Forever]

Huge win for the Lady Bucks.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

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1/23/06

Davenport’s shot lifts OSU to win
Monday, January 23, 2006 The Associated Press

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Ohio State’s Marscilla Packer (right) jumps into the arms of Jessica Davenport in celebration after Davenport hit the game-winning shot as time expired to defeat Michigan State, 67-65, in college women’s basketball Sunday at East Lansing, Mich. Davenport led Ohio State with 31 points.

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Jessica Davenport caught the long pass like a wide receiver.
Davenport took a 40-foot pass from Marscilla Packer and scored a layup at the buzzer to lift No. 7 Ohio State past No. 12 Michigan State, 67-65, Sunday.
The 6-foot-5 Davenport finished with 31 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for the Buckeyes (15-2, 6-1 Big Ten). She went 14-for-19 from the field.
“Jess is always going to be back with that little time left,” Ohio State Coach Jim Foster said of the play with 3 seconds left.
Ashley Allen finished with 15 points, going 5-for-7 from 3-point range. The Buckeyes won their sixth straight game and ended the Spartans’ 23-game winning streak in the Breslin Center, which included five straight over ranked teams.
Davenport got Packer’s attention on the final play after Michigan State (14-6, 4-3) had rallied from a 10-point deficit.
“At first I thought Pack was going to try a long shot, so I screamed her name,” Davenport said.
Michigan State Coach Joanne P. McCallie expected an extra session.
“It definitely should have been an overtime game,” McCallie said. “I had one timeout and didn’t call it. Those kids should have all been in front of us. But that last pass was astounding.”
She said the team was correct to sag off Allen, who was draining 3s.
“The real story was Ashley Allen hitting five 3’s,” McCallie said. “I don’t think she has done that all year. And no, we’re not defending that shot. She can chuck it up there the next time, too.”
The Spartans got 18 points from Liz Shimek, 12 from Victoria Lucas-Perry and 11 from Lindsay Bowen, who sparked a surge from a 65-57 deficit with a 3-pointer, a steal and a layup and free throw.
After two more steals, a free throw by Aisha Jefferson with 3 seconds left tied the game.
“I just remember them lobbing it to No. 50,” Shimek said. “But you can’t base the whole game on that play. It all came down to our defense again. And that last play was a blur.” Michigan State had a 35-27 edge in rebounds, but shot just 34 percent from the field in the second half. The Buckeyes shot 63 percent in the last 20 minutes and had 25 assists on 28 baskets. Ohio State was 8-for-17 from long range, with Packer hitting three 3s.

[coastalbuck]

I would have liked to watch that one. Sounds like a hell of a game. Great win by the lady Bucks. The Big Ten is really tough this year, a road win against a ranked team is huge. Keep it going Ladies.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Davenport continues to dominate, I don't get to watch many of their games, but she is always tough inside. Big time player.

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

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1/26/06

OSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Buckeyes are feeling good after road win over Spartans

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
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For a little more than a minute, the sky looked as if it were about to fall on Ohio State for a second season in a row in East Lansing, Mich.
A fast-closing Michigan State team seemed on the verge of taking a huge Big Ten win away from the seventh-ranked Buckeyes in the final seconds
game. passes and a buzzer-beating layup by OSU center Jessica Davenport proved every Chicken Little in the Breslin Center wrong. OSU won 67-65.
Fifth-year senior Debbie Merrill, a transfer from Cincinnati, wasn’t eligible to play in the game last season. She understood what was at stake for her teammates who did.
"I know the people that were here last year really wanted to beat them " Merrill said. "They took away our No. 1 (NCAA Tournament seed). We shared the Big Ten championship with them, and we went up there and lost. So going to their house and beating them was a really big deal."
The tough road win kept the Buckeyes (15-2, 6-1) in a tie for second place in the Big Ten with Minnesota at the halfway point, a game behind Purdue. It also showcased an OSU team that appears to be growing into its offense as it heads into tonight’s game against Wisconsin (7-12, 1-6) in Value City Arena.
Davenport led the way with 31 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Ashley Allen nearly brought down rain with five high-arcing three-point baskets. Marscilla Packer — whose pass to Davenport won the game — Brandie Hoskins and Merrill combined for 17 assists.
"I think that’s the first game since I’ve been here where things started going bad at the end of the game that we kept our heads up high," Hoskins said. "We just wanted to win. That’s the best game we’ve played as a team since I’ve been here as far as people stepping up."
Hoskins noted that the Spartans built a 13-point lead in the first half and charged back from a 10-point deficit in the second. The Buckeyes didn’t fold.
"We fought back," she said. "They hadn’t lost at home in 23 games. So that was a great win for us."
OSU coach Jim Foster has been trying to show a more diversified offense this season. A year ago, teams looked to lock down Davenport on the low block, Hoskins in the lane and now-graduated Caity Matter on the perimeter.
"You don’t snap your fingers and change things," Foster said. "It takes players working together that haven’t been together. In (Merrill’s) case, it’s a backto-the-basket player you’re asking to face the basket. In (Hoskins’) case, it was a pull-up jumper. (It’s) getting (Allen) back in the offense and acclimated to it.
"We’d like to think we can get three to four people (in double figures) on a regular basis."
The perimeter assault Sunday by Allen and Packer, who hit three three-pointers, opened the inside for Davenport.
"Ashley and Pack the last couple of games have been unbelievable from the three-point line," Merrill said. "It just takes pressure off. Michigan State plays a match-up zone and usually tries to clog the middle.
"They wanted us to take those shots, but because we were hitting them it was easier to get the ball to Jess. They had to move the zone out, and it left Jess one-on-one. If your guards are hitting, they have to honor the guards."
jmassie@dispatch.com