Lady Bucks Basketball Thread

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

OSU-Boston University preview

Saturday, November 29, 2008 3:02 AM
By Jim Massie


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Game preview

OHIO STATE VS. BOSTON UNIVERSITY

2 p.m. today
? Where: St. John Arena
? TV: None
? Radio: WOSU-AM (820)
? Records: Ohio State 4-1; Boston University 3-2
? Matchup to watch: The Terriers are active on the offensive boards behind quick, slashing forward Jesyka Burks-Wiley and guards Amara Umez-Eronini and Christine Kinneary. The Buckeyes need to limit second shot opportunities that hurt in an overtime loss at Auburn.

Continued.............

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Ohio State women's basketball
Little engine running again at full speed
Energetic guard overcomes knee injury
Saturday, November 29, 2008 3:03 AM
By Jim Massie


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The body language spoke volumes yesterday while the Ohio State women's basketball team filed out of the practice gym in Value City Arena.
Gray team players, made up of reserves, left the premises with a little more bounce in their steps. The regular starters, dressed in red, looked as bedraggled as first-time marathoners.
Which group played better? Junior Shavelle Little, a gray team guard, didn't exactly say.

Continued............

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Ohio State 72 Boston University 47
Bench adds fuel to fire in lopsided win

Sunday, November 30, 2008 3:16 AM
By Jim Massie


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

ADAM ALEXANDER Dispatch
Ohio State's Sarah Schulze, left, receives praise from teammate Shavelle Little after drawing a shooting foul against Boston University. Schulze scored 10 points and got to play a career-high 24 minutes in the Buckeyes' 72-47 victory.




During her first tour of duty with the Ohio State women's basketball team last season, sophomore forward Sarah Schulze said she wasn't surprised when coach Jim Foster looked down the bench and crooked a finger in her direction.
Then Schulze reconsidered those precious, few freshman moments and changed her mind.
"I guess you could say it was a surprise," she said, smiling. "I knew my role wasn't going to be to play that much. So when I did get in it was like, 'Whoa!' "
A season later, Schulze has seen playing time in each of the team's first six games in relief of senior power forward Star Allen. Schulze reached career highs yesterday in minutes played (24) and points (10) in helping OSU overwhelm Boston University 72-47 in the first round of the Buckeye Classic in St. John Arena.

Continued..............

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Notes from the Buckeye Classic

Ohio State did what a ranked team is supposed to do - even on its sometime home court - this afternoon by dusting Boston University 72-47 in St. John Arena in the opening round of the Buckeye Classic.
Everybody played. Everybody did a little bit of something. (Not all good.) The leaderboard showed Andrea Walker with 14 points (a career high), Jantel Lavender with 13 rebounds, Samantha Prahalis with six assists and we'll give Ashlee Trebilcock a nod for not committing a turnover in 19 minutes.
Everybody else coughed up the ball at least once and the Terriers scored 19 points off the mistakes. The competition could be better in the championship game at 2 p.m. Sunday in the venerable St. John.


Continued............

 

[Oh8ch]

Watched the last part of today's game. Liked the way the dug their heels in once they got down 10.

The next couple of years Foster is going to have a very nice team.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Really liked the way they finished the game today...

They are still young, but you gotta like the way they are able to overcome that at times and go on quick runs of their own...

This is going to be an up and down season at times, not really in wins and losses because we should be better than most teams we play, but in terms of ugly wins and real good wins...

We should of won the game at Auburn, but went thru one of our bad spurts at a bad time...

When you are led by a sophomore and a frosh things, things only get better as the season goes...

Gotta like Foster's changing of style this year tho...

Also Stokes has started rehab and has been shooting the ball some...Not sure how long till a return, but she is doing well...

 

[osugrad21]

DDN

No. 20 Ohio State beats Dayton 76-61

COLUMBUS, Ohio ? Jantel Lavender scored 27 points and Samantha Prahalis had 17 to help No. 20 Ohio State rally from a 10-point deficit in the second half to beat Dayton 76-61 in the final of the Buckeye Classic.
Kristin Daugherty had 18 points and Justine Raterman 16 for the Flyers, who (4-3) went up 49-39 when Kendel Ross hit a 3-pointer with 12:40 to play.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

OSU women rally to win Buckeye Classic title game

Sunday, November 30, 2008 4:56 PM
By Jim Massie


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
The Ohio State women's basketball team rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to defeat Dayton 76-61 yesterday in the championship game of the Buckeye Classic yesterday afternoon in St. John Arena.

With the 20th-ranked Buckeyes trailing 49-39, sophomore Sarah Schulze ignited the comeback with a three-point field goal at the 12:24 mark.

The basket started a 25-5 run and an increase in defensive intensity that left the Flyers (4-3) in the rear-view mirror. OSU sophomore Jantel Lavender scored 27 points in the win and was named the tournament's most valuable player.
Cont...

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

November 30, 2008

Last words on the Buckeye Classic

Ohio State seized the 76-61 win over Dayton in the championship game of the Buckeye Classic today in St. John Arena the way my older brother used to end all of our wrestling matches. Twas painful and quick.
Consider the Flyers had a 49-39 with 12:44 to play and all the momentum in the world after Kendel Ross nailed an uncontested three-point field goal. Instead of folding, the Buckeyes woke up. Sarah Schulze started the run with a three-point field goal.
"She just came in and brought a lot of energy and re-engergized us," freshman point guard Samantha Prahalis said of Schulze. "We definitely needed that. She lifted us all up and we fed off her."
Prahalis showed how much by scoring six points in a 37-second flash that left Dayton reeling. Prahalis nailed a three-pointer. After Ross missed a jumper, Prahalis roared into the lane for an off-balance layup. She was fouled, made the free and voila, the score was 50-49.
Cont..

 

[osugrad21]

OZone

Women's Basketball
Buckeyes Rally to Take Hard-Earned Win over Flyers
By John Porentas ​

The Ohio State Buckeyes (6-1) and Dayton Flyers (4-3) hooked up in an all-Ohio brawl in the championship game of the Buckeye Classic. The matchup provided two totally different but equally entertaining halves of basketball. When the brawl ended, the Buckeye came away with a hard-fought 76-61 win.​

The first half was a nip and tuck affair with eight ties. Neither team led by more than three points and the half was tied at 34 when it ended.​

Dayton was able to stay with Ohio State on the strength of a game plan that kept center Jantel Lavender off the glass by surrounding her with three defenders, two of them baseline players. Without Lavender's rebounding, particularly on the offensive glass, the young Flyers were able to stay with the Buckeyes.​

"In the first half Jantel wasn't rebounding, she was sort of surrounded by committee, they were taking her out of it," said OSU Head Coach Jim Foster.

Cont...​

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Women's basketball: OSU ready for another challenge

Saturday, December 6, 2008 2:58 AM
By Jim Massie


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The joke after the initial Atlantic Coast Conference-Big Ten women's basketball challenge last season went something like this:
If the Big Ten programs joined the Big 12, what would the new league be called? It would still be the Big 12. The rim shot, as are all rim shots for media wags, is optional.
The inference, however, remains clear even as the ACC continued to dominate the series this season. Nationally, the Big Ten is seen as lacking a quality team.

Continued.........

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

OSU women's basketball: Foster likes this team's toughness

Monday, December 15, 2008 2:54 AM
By Jim Massie


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



From the beginning of practice through the first nine games of the season, Ohio State women's basketball coach Jim Foster has seen enough growth in the 18th-ranked Buckeyes to offer an observation, followed by a mild aftershock. "I think we're a lot better," he said. "We're better today than we were at any point last year."
Last season's team, of course, won a share of a fourth consecutive Big Ten championship before collapsing in the postseason with first-game losses in the conference and NCAA tournaments.
Obviously Foster is expecting more from these Buckeyes (7-2), who come off a week of exams to play Cleveland State (4-4) tonight in Nationwide Arena.
His opinion is based on the team's reaction to a rugged trip through the opening weeks of the schedule. The Buckeyes produced stirring, come-from-behind victories over Dayton and Nebraska. They also pressed No. 2 North Carolina and No. 11 Auburn to the limit before losing.
"We compete more," Foster said. "We're competitive longer."
Cont...

 

[NYTraveller]

That close run victory at Nebraska is now looking a little brighter after the Huskers knocked off Arizona State.

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Buckeyes pair measuring up
Lavender, Prahalis develop chemistry on and off the court
Monday, December 29, 2008 3:13 AM
By Jim Massie


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

NEAL C. LAURONDispatch
Jantel Lavender, left, and Samantha Prahalis have quickly meshed into an elite offensive combination.


The encounter in Lincoln, Neb., had the comic feel of a lion cub pouncing on the swaying tail of its unsuspecting mother. Ohio State freshman point guard Samantha Prahalis spotted sophomore center Jantel Lavender about to shoot a pregame jump shot and strolled beneath the upraised elbows of her 6-foot-4 teammate.
Prahalis, the newest kid on the Buckeyes women's basketball block, delivered a quick jab to the midsection of the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and scooted out of harm's way before the Lavender bridge came falling down.
Mention of the moment drew the same mischievous smile from the 5-7 Prahalis that had preceded the prank.
"We always joke around," she said. "I'm always messing with her because I'm small and she's so tall. So it's funny. But she definitely gives it back to me."
Lavender joined the conversation, listened to a retelling of the Nebraska story and laughed.
"That's just what she does," she said. "It doesn't bother me."
Does anyone else take that kind of liberty?
"No, just her," Lavender said with a dismissive wave that drew a laugh from Prahalis.
Twelve games into their first season together, the on-court relationship between the two is as evident as the statistics. Lavender leads the Big Ten in scoring at 22.8 points per game. Prahalis leads in assists at 6.3 per game. Forty-two of the first 75 assists of Prahalis' career have gone to Lavender.
Cont...

 

[Best Buckeye]

Former Buckeye Tracey Hall to Have Number 44 Jersey Retired Feb. 15

Link



Hall was the Big Ten?s first two-time Kodak All-American
COLUMBUS, Ohio ? Former Buckeye and two-time All-American Tracey (Hall) Yarbrough will have her No. 44 jersey retired at halftime of the Feb. 15 game against Northwestern at Value City Arena. She will become just the second women?s basketball player at Ohio State to have her number retired after Katie Smith?s No. 30 was retired in January 2001.
Hall played for the Buckeyes from 1985-88, earning first team All-America honors in her last two seasons in becoming the Big Ten?s first two-time Kodak All-American.
?I feel honored that Ohio State has thought enough about me and the contributions that I have made to the women's basketball program to recognize me with this great honor,? Yarbrough said. ?This is an accomplishment that I would have never imagined. I will cherish this experience forever.?
Hall was the Big Ten freshman of the year and a second team All-Big Ten performer in 1985. She went on to claim the conference?s top honor in 1986 and ?87, while being selected first team All-Big Ten in 1986, ?87 and ?88.