Davenport too big for Big Red
Center leads Buckeyes? rout with 24 points
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
- Order your copy of Unstoppable: Buckeyes 2006, an Ohio State football season-in-review book from The Dispatch.
- Purchase a poster of the Nov. 19 front page!
- 2006 Ohio State football highlights DVD Relive the Buckeyes' perfect regular season! Pre-ordering now available.
Stephanie Blanton, right, steals the ball from Lindsay Krasna of Cornell. Blanton sparked Ohio State?s breakaway run in the first half with active defensive play off the bench.
Cornell coach Dayna Smith recognized the size of the mountain facing the Big Red yesterday, even before the Ohio State women?s basketball team and All-American center Jessica Davenport took the court in St. John Arena for the Buckeye Classic.
"Obviously, we were overmatched," Smith said. "Defensively, we tried to front Davenport. We tried to front their posts. We thought they could score over us. (Davenport) still had her 24 points. She played terrific. I don?t know if we were physically able to compete with that."
The sixth-ranked Buckeyes overpowered the Big Red for a 77-43 victory in front of 3,936 fans. Davenport led an offensive effort that never let up with 24 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.
"Coach (Jim Foster) told us during the game to play the game, not the score," Davenport said. "We were up big, and I think we got a little lackadaisical. So we had to keep playing hard. We just went out and executed the game plan."
Ohio State (4-0) will face Montana (3-0), a 68-61 winner over Davidson, at 2 p.m. today in the championship game. The Big Red (0-4) and Wildcats (3-2) play at noon.
Davenport had more than enough help. Senior guard Brandie Hoskins had 19 points and six assists, and junior guard Marscilla Packer added nine points and five assists against no turnovers.
The Buckeyes, who committed 19 turnovers Tuesday in a double-overtime win over Boston College, had just 10 against the Big Red. That number pleased Foster.
"The number I look at is turnovers and assists," he said. "When we reverse the ball, we?re a good basketball team. We get pretty good shots. By moving the ball and putting Jess in a situation where she?s moving around, it?s a lot more difficult to come up with a trapping scheme."
In the opening minutes, Cornell scrapped and hung close. The Big Red trailed 13-9 after Kayleen Fitzsimmons made a three-pointer with 13:24 left in the half. OSU senior Stephanie Blanton entered the game 30 seconds later and fueled the decisive run.
"I thought when she came into the game, she made a couple of hustle plays that led to quick, easy baskets," Foster said. "She made two great passes out to Brandie by getting on the floor and just being active."
Hoskins scored back-to-back fast-break baskets and the Buckeyes never looked back.
"The way we played defense led to transition for the offense," Hoskins said. "We played really well on defense. We got on the floor a lot. Most of the offense I got came from defense."
The Buckeyes led by 39 points in the second half and Foster played everyone on the roster for at least five minutes. The bench contributed 18 points, and freshman Lesslee Mason-Cox scored the first four points of her Ohio State career.
Sophomore Jeomi Maduka led Cornell with 21 points and nine rebounds. She couldn?t, however, stop Davenport.
"We watched a lot of film," Smith said. "She?s very controlled. For that size and her power, it?s amazing how controlled she is when she catches it. She?s the real deal."
[email protected]
Ohio State women roll past Cornell
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Ohio State?s Shavelle Little (left) and Cornell?s Gretchen Gregg fight for the ball during the first half Saturday in Columbus.
No. 6 Ohio State was determined not to have another second-half meltdown.
Jessica Davenport scored 24 points and Brandie Hoskins added 19 Saturday to lead the Buckeyes to a 77-43 win over Cornell in the semifinals of the Buckeye Classic at Columbus.
Ohio State controlled the game early, building a 44-21 halftime lead and never letting Cornell (0-4) mount a threat, a far cry from Tuesday night, when Ohio State blew a 17-point second-half lead and needed two overtimes to defeat Boston College 80-72.
Davenport, a first-team All-America center and Big Ten player of the year the past two years, hit 9 of 10 shots from the field and had 10 rebounds. ?We did a great job today. The things we were working on in practice really came out today in the game,? said Davenport, whose double-double was the 34th of her career.
Davenport dominates tourney final
Monday, November 27, 2006
Jim Massie
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
KYLE ROBERTSON DISPATCH Tournament MVP Jessica Davenport, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds, rejects a shot from Montana?s Johanna Closson.
The play unfolded beneath the Ohio State basket in St. John Arena without a word passing between Jessica Davenport and Brandie Hoskins.
"It?s just eye contact," Hoskins said. "We usually make eye contact and figure out what we want to do. We?ve been doing that play since freshman year. We made that play up, I think."
Hoskins triggered the out-of-bounds surprise for Montana with a pass to Davenport in the lane. As soon as the defense surrounded her, Davenport bounced the ball back to a cutting Hoskins for a layup.
The easy score was one of 100 reasons sixthranked OSU (5-0) pounded the Lady Griz 83-43 in the championship game of the Buckeye Classic yesterday. Davenport, the tournament?s most valuable player, and Hoskins are in their fourth season of playing together, and their wordless conversations have caused trouble for opponents from the beginning.
"That?s my play with Brandie," Davenport said. "Nobody else on the team can run that. Since our freshman year, we?ve had the type of chemistry where I know where she is going to go and I give the ball back to her. It?s just through eye contact."
OSU coach Jim Foster sees the chemistry between Hoskins and Davenport growing as two new starters, sophomore forward Star Allen and freshman point guard Maria Moeller, grow accustomed to their roles.
"I think you should start to hit a different stride as you?ve been playing games," Foster said. "We know ourselves inside and out and sometimes take things for granted just getting into the flow. I would expect us to start playing a little better as we go along."
The Buckeyes jumped to a 22-5 lead over Montana (3-1) in the first seven minutes. Hoskins dictated the pace.
"I thought Brandie played a terrific game," Foster said. "She played at a nice tempo and wasn?t in a hurry. Our young guards should be able to watch her and understand that the game isn?t played real fast. Brandie is real quick, and subtle."
It helps to have a 6-foot-5 target with the skills of Davenport. She connected on 9 of 11 shots from the field to score 22 points. She set a tournament record by making 18 of 21 shots from the field (85.7 percent) in two games.
Davenport also contributed 10 rebounds, six blocked shots and four assists. Hoskins, who joined teammate Marscilla Packer on the all-tournament team, delivered 17 points and eight assists. The rest of the team watched and learned.
"I think Brandie and Jess have been able to do that because they?ve been playing together for four years," Moeller said. "I know I have to get that chemistry with Jess. They play so well together, but we can develop that with all five of us on the court at the same time."
Davenport promised that practice would begin soon with Moeller, who missed her with a lob pass in the first half.
"I told her at the end of halftime that we have to start working on our chemistry," Davenport said. "She threw me a pass over the top of the defense that I was unable to get. We have to work on our chemistry, because I?m going to be down there a lot during the rest of the season."
Packer and Tamarah Riley scored 11 points each. Montana shot 28.8 percent from the field. Johanna Closson and Mandy Morales, who led the Lady Griz in scoring coming into the game, combined for six points, 21 below their average. Sonya Richards led Montana with 15.
OSU senior wing Stephanie Blanton did not play. She injured her left knee on Saturday in the first half of Ohio State?s win over Cornell and is undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging today.
In the consolation game, Davidson crushed Cornell 67-39. The Wildcats (4-2) forced 35 turnovers. Jessica Mitchell led Davidson with 14 points.
[email protected]
Monday, November 27, 2006
