Women's Basketball
Buckeyes Whollop St. Joseph's, 76-29
By John Porentas
Ohio State (2-0) scored the first 11 points of the game,
then never looked back in defeating St. Joseph's of Pennsylvania (1-1)
by a final of 76-29 in the second round of the women's preseason NIT
tournament. With the win, the Buckeyes qualify for the final four
of the tournament and will host 13-ranked Arizona at the Value City
Arena on Wednesday at 7:00 PM.
The Buckeyes shot 49.1% from the field and were led
in scoring by sophomore center Jessica Davenport with 16 points. Davenport
also recorded 8 rebounds in just 19 minutes of play. A total of five
Buckeye reached double figures in scoring including Caity Matter with
12, Brandie Hoskins and Stephanie Blanton with 11 each and Tamarah
Riley with 10.
The Buckeyes were patient and efficient on offense,
but as in their season-opening win over Bowling Green, it was their
defense that told the tale of the game.
"There were no surprises," said St. Joseph's
Head Coach Cindy Griffin who played her college basketball at St.
Joseph's for current Buckeye Head Coach Jim Foster.
"His teams are always patient, they're always well-skilled
and well-taught. Their spacing is always very good. We new exactly
what they were going to do," she said.
The Buckeyes used a suffocating man-to-man defense to
limit St. Joseph's to just 29% shooting from the floor and force 18
turnovers to go with nine steals.
"I think it (OSU's defense pressure on the ball)
affected us a lot," said Griffin.
"They did a good job with ball pressure. We made
a lot of mental mistakes as-well-as youth mistakes. Ohio State is
a very good defensive team."
Ohio State led at the half 39-13 and outscored St. Joseph
36-16 in the second half.
Ohio State's starters were largely out of the game in
the entire second half. No Buckeye registered more than 23 minutes
of playing time. Twelve players saw the floor for at least 11 minutes
of play.
Ohio State has not yet been challenged this season and
has now blown out its first three opponents by a combined score of
237-119 (including their exhibition game with Austrialian Institute
of Sport). Despite the lopsided results, OSU Head Coach Jim Foster
sees positives from the early season schedule.
"I told the team that we've probably seen more
defenses in the first three games than we saw in the first three months
last year," said Foster.
Foster also likes that so many players are contributing
for the Buckeyes in the early going.
"It doesn't pay you to have depth if you do not
make the other team pay," said Foster. "Good help-side defense
and transition are two elements that allow depth to take it's toll."
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