Women’s Basketball Takes on Wisconsin – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/16/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2000
The Tip
%^$The Ohio State Buckeyes won their second consecutive game in league play Thursday evening, 53-51 vs. the defending national champions of Purdue. The victory evens their league record to 2-2 and eyeing a third “W”, hosting the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten Game of the Week Sunday at 5 p.m. on Fox Sports Chicago. Wisconsin, 7-6 overall, secured its first league win Tuesday, 74-60, at Northwestern and enters Sunday’s contest with a 1-3 conference mark. The winner of today’s game won’t have a long time to celebrate. The two schools square off again next Sunday in Madison, Wis.%^$
%^$The Series
%^$Ohio State leads the series between the teams, 27-11. After losing six consecutive games to the Badgers from 1994-1996, the Buckeyes have now won four of the last six meetings. At home, OSU enjoys a 12-4 record, is 7-7 in Madison, but has never lost to Wisconsin (6-0) on a neutral floor.%^$
%^$Ohio State was 2-1 against Wisconsin in 1999. The Buckeyes defeated the Badgers, 70-61, in the Big Ten Tournament and marked their first Big Ten win in Value City Arena, 70-55, when they hosted the Badgers Jan. 5. Wisconsin won in overtime in Madison, 83-79, on Feb. 12.%^$
%^$Head Coach Beth Burns
%^$Marking her 11th career season, the third at Ohio State, Coach Beth Burns continues to guide the program to success both on and off the court. Last season, Burns guided the Scarlet & Gray contingent to a 17-12 campaign and to its first NCAA tournament in three years. In addition, a 9-7, fourth-place finish in the league marked Ohio State’s best effort since its 1993 Big Ten Championship run. Academically, six returnees earned OSU Scholar-Athletes laurels with two tabbing academic all-Big Ten honors. Burns took over the program in April 1997, leaving a successful, well-respected career at San Diego State where she was three times selected the WAC Coach of the Year (1994, ’95, ’97). She has earned a record of 41-29 (.580) as a Buckeye and is 192-111 (.632) for her career. Burns, 18-18 (.500) in her third season of Big Ten competition, enjoys a 3-1 record vs. Wisconsin.%^$
%^$Burns Completes The Circle%^$With a 53-51 victory vs. Purdue, Coach Beth Burns has now recorded a victory against every Big Ten school. %^$
%^$Burns Vs. Record*%^$Indiana 3-0%^$Illinois 1-4%^$Iowa 1-3%^$Michigan 2-1%^$Michigan State 3-3%^$Minnesota 4-0%^$Northwestern 1-2%^$Penn State 1-2%^$Purdue 1-4%^$Wisconsin 3-1%^$ 20-20%^$*Record includes Big Ten Tournament results%^$
%^$On Ohio State
%^$Forward Michaela Moua picked the perfect time to hit her first basket.%^$
%^$Ohio State’s lone senior, Moua hit a driving layup with three-tenths of a second remaining as the Buckeyes upset defending national champion Purdue, 53-51, Thursday night in Value City Arena. The Buckeye win was OSU’s first over Purdue since Dec. 31, 1995, breaking a six-game losing skid to the Boilermakers.%^$
%^$OSU (9-5, 2-2 Big Ten) led the game 51-44 with 6:28 remaining in the second half, but then went ice-cold from the field, failing to hit another field goal until Moua’s hoop just before the buzzer. The No. 18 Boilermakers (9-5, 1-3) chipped away at the lead until Katie Douglas hit a leaning jumper with 20 seconds left to tie the game.%^$
%^$After a time out, Ohio State brought the ball down the floor, and OSU freshman Tanya McClure was fouled by Kelly Komara with 5.1 seconds remaining. McClure missed the front end of the one-and-one, but the Boilermakers committed a traveling violation on the rebound, leaving the Buckeyes with four seconds to claim the win.%^$
%^$On the inbound play, LaToya Turner hit Moua with a pass at the free throw line, and Moua bullied her way to the hoop for the winning basket. %^$
%^$The Buckeyes were paced by freshman DiDi Reynolds, who tied a career-high established one game back at Minnesota, with a dozen points. OSU’s freshmen (Turner, McClure, Courtney Coleman and D’wan Shackleford) combined for 33 of Ohio State’s 53 points. Turner, McClure and Lauren Shenk each added eight points.%^$
%^$Purdue was led by Katie Douglas, who scored 20 points. Camille Cooper added 12 points for the Boilermakers.%^$
%^$Burns on Purdue
%^$”This is a big win for the Buckeyes and for the program. We beat a team that we haven’t beaten in awhile and that we have an awful lot of respect for.%^$
%^$”What DiDi (Reynolds) and Courtney (Bale) did off the bench for us was huge. %^$
%^$”I was confident with what we were doing the entire game. Everyone was doing what they were supposed to do.%^$
%^$”We’ve been practicing very hard and it paid off today.”%^$
%^$Coincidence or Destiny?
%^$Both the Ohio State men’s and women’s teams were in action Thursday night. The women hosting Purdue while their male counterparts played at Wisconsin. Both teams came away with identical 53-51 victories in the final seconds of their respective games.%^$
%^$Bucks Handle The Pressure
%^$Ohio State claimed victory in its second game this season decided with less than two seconds remaining on the clock. Earlier this season (Dec. 9) vs. instate rival Cleveland State, sophomore guard Laura Ingham distributed a bullet pass to freshman center LaToya Turner, who banked a shot with 1.4 seconds remaining for a 62-61 victory. %^$
%^$Against Purdue, it was Turner lobbing a pass to senior forward Michaela Moua who drove to the basket with three-tenths of a second on the clock for a 53-51 win. %^$
%^$Wisconsin Coach Jane Albright
%^$Wisconsin head coach Jane Albright is in her sixth year at the helm. In her tenure, the Badgers have had five consecutive winning seasons for the first time in program history (96-52, .648), including three 20-win seasons and four post-season bids. In her first two seasons as head coach of the Badgers, the squad went to the NCAA Tournament (1995, ’96). Last season she led the team to a runner-up finish in the WNIT tournament.%^$
%^$On Wisconsin
%^$The Badgers are 7-6 overall and 1-3 in conference play, heading into Sunday’s game. The team has fared well in overtime, winning, 92-85, over then-No. 24-ranked Nebraska on Nov. 11 and at Northeastern, 81-80, seven days later. Jessie Stomski, a 6-3 sophomore forward, leads the squad in scoring (14.6 ppg) and is tied for the team lead with 7.7 boards per game. Junior LaTonya Sims is right behind Stomski, averaging 14.5 points per contest and also pulling down 7.9 rebounds a game. Tamara Moore, a 5-11 sophomore guard/forward, is also scoring in double-figures, with 12.8 points per game. Freshman Nina Smith, the 1999 Parade and USA Today National Prep Player of the Year, was averaging 11.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per contest before fracturing her right foot in practice on Jan. 1. At the time the injury occurred, the 6-4 center was expected to miss six to eight weeks.%^$
%^$A Classic Matchup – Will Have To Wait
%^$The anticipated matchup between freshman centers LaToya Turner and Nina Smith will have to wait until perhaps later this year with Smith sitting out at least the next month with a fracture in her right foot. Smith in addition to Turner, who had ACL surgery on her left knee this past summer, were the two most sought after high school post players in the country last year. %^$
%^$Shooting Shenk
%^$Sophomore guard Lauren Shenk seemed to have Wisconsin’s number in her freshman season. In three games, she averaged 16.3 points per game against the Badgers (20.0 ppg vs. Wisconsin in the regular season). Her career high of 23 points came in the second contest in Madison last year on Feb. 12. %^$
%^$The Feeling of Rejection
%^$Freshman center LaToya Turner registered three blocks in the paint vs. Purdue, raising her season total to 18 for the year. The mark eclipses the past three OSU individual single season blocks records. %^$
%^$Year Blocks Leaders Number%^$1999 Larecha Jones 17%^$1998 Mindy Smith 15%^$1997 Larecha Jones 14%^$1996 Tiffany Glosson 23%^$
%^$No Shying Away
%^$Ohio State played its fourth ranked opponent this season in the Purdue Boilermakers, currently ranked No. 18 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/Coaches Top 25. The youthful Buckeyes captured their first win in the effort in four tries this seaon, 53-51, Thursday night. %^$
%^$%^$Team Rank Result%^$Rutgers (12-1) No. 7 L, 46-35%^$Georgia (12-19) No. 5 L, 91-59%^$Illinois (12-30) No. 17 L, 63-57, ot%^$Purdue (1-13) No. 18 W, 53-51%^$
%^$Reynolds Emerges
%^$Freshman forward DiDi Reynolds has bettered her career high efforts for points, minutes played and rebounds in back-to-back games.%^$
%^$Against Purdue, Reynolds matched the career scoring high she established one game back at Minnesota, with a team-high 12 points. She collected a career-high five rebounds in the effort while playing a season-high 21 minutes. Reynolds has been hot from the three-point arc in the last two games where she has sank 6-of-9 treys. Her 60 percent three-point field goal percentage paces all long-distance shooters in the league. %^$
%^$Good Balance
%^$The top four scorers in the Ohio State offensive attack are a senior, junior, sophomore and freshman. Senior Michaela Moua leads OSU with 11.1 points per game. Freshman LaToya Turner is second on the squad with 10.2 ppg. Sophomore Lauren Shenk is third on the team with an 8.8 points per game average and junior Courtney Bale is fourth at 5.7 ppg. Turner leads the rebounding effort, collecting 5.1 caroms per game, however, Moua and Bale are not far behind with 4.9 rpg, respectively. %^$
%^$Coming Out Party
%^$OSU received a solid effort from its No. 2-ranked freshmen class, which tallied 33-of-53 points and grabbed 14 of the Buckeyes’ 24 rebounds vs. Purdue.%^$
%^$Direct Pressure
%^$OSU forced Purdue into 25 turnovers, which is the Boilermaker’s second-highest turnover figure this season. Their high is 28, set vs. Kentucky.%^$
%^$The Buckeyes protected the ball well, committing 15 turnovers – their second-lowest total of the season. Purdue notched only three steals vs. OSU, marking the Boilermakers lowest theft output of the season. %^$
%^$McClure Marks Start
%^$Freshman guard Tanya McClure made her second consecutive career start as a Buckeye Thursday vs. Purdue and is one of three freshmen to have appeared in the starting lineup this season. McClure posted eight points, three rebounds and five assists over 25 minutes of play. Ohio State is currently 2-0 with the Gahanna-Lincoln (Ohio) High School alum as a starter.%^$
%^$Coaching Dilemma
%^$Things could get confusing for Ohio State sophomore guard Lauren Shenk during Sunday’s game with Wisconsin. You see, Shenk played under Wisconsin Coach Jane Albright as a member of the Big Ten All-Star Team which toured Germany and Belgium this past summer. She paced the squad, averaging 11.0 points per game. The All-Star unit posted a 3-1 record in exhibition play. %^$
%^$Non-Conference Wrap-Up
%^$Ohio State matched its non-conference record of a year ago, recording a 7-3 effort. Of the Buckeyes’ seven victories, six were claimed by 30 points or more and by holding each of those opponents to no more than 50 points. The Buckeyes forced 5-of-10 teams to eclipse the 30-turnover plateau. %^$
%^$In an even more impressive run on the homefront in December, the Buckeyes went 4-1 in a five-game home stretch, while its scoring defense held opponents to a stifling 49.6 ppg., and forced an average 25.8 turnovers.%^$
%^$In the last game on the non-league schedule, Ohio State held the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks to a .204 (31-of-64) shooting percentage in the contest, just .004 percentage points shy of an OSU opponent record low. In 1981, OSU held Western Michigan to just .200 off 15-of-75 shooting. %^$
%^$Let ‘Em Play
%^$Showcasing five freshmen in the 1999-2000 season apparently is no problem for head coach Beth Burns who has played each member of the Class of 2003 frequently and without hesitation. Three of the five newcomers have started at least once this season and played in every game with the unit playing in nearly a third of the overall minutes clocked. Center LaToya Turner and guard Tanya McClure lead the pack, averaging 21.3 and 16.4 minutes, respectively, in overall games.%^$
%^$Lewis Continues The Climb
%^$Despite undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery July 6, junior guard Jamie Lewis has continued her assault on the Ohio State career assists record book climbing from 13th place at the onset of the season to the fifth all-time slot with 318. %^$
%^$Career Assists Leaders%^$1. Yvette Angel 562 1981-85%^$2. Lisa Cline 491 1985-89%^$3. Katie Smith 444 1993-96%^$4. Cheryl Perozek 341 1988-91%^$5. Jamie Lewis 318 1995- %^$6. Laurie Pirtle 317 1976-80 %^$7. Averrill Roberts 306 1990-93%^$8. Geneva Sanford 305 1985-89%^$9. Alysiah Bond 297 1992-95%^$10. Liana Coutts 295 1984-89%^$
%^$Scholar-Athletes
%^$Six returning members of the Buckeye Basketball team attained scholar-athlete laurels last season. Senior Michaela Moua, juniors Courtney Bale and Mandy Stanhope, and sophomores Tomeka Brown, Laura Ingham and Lauren Shenk all earned OSU Scholar-Athlete honors, maintaining GPAs of 3.0 and higher. Moua and Stanhope also tabbed Academic all-Big Ten recognition.%^$
%^$We’re No. 2
%^$In just two seasons, Coach Beth Burns’ talent as a top-notch recruiter has resulted in her securing the No. 2-ranked freshman class in the country. The all-Ohio class consist of two nationally-ranked players in 6-4 center LaToya Turner (Pickerington High School) and 5-4 point guard Tanya McClure (Gahanna-Lincoln) who were hailed at No. 2 and No. 7, respectively at their positions. Forward DiDi Reynolds, 6-1, reigns as the Division IV Player of the Year out of Hopewell-Loudon. Also joining the frontcourt are Ohio Capital Conference standout D’wan Shackleford, 6-0, and Courtney Coleman, 6-2, of Cincinnati Hughes who ranked sixth in the state last year, collecting 15.9 caroms per game.%^$
%^$Buckeye Class of 2000
%^$Head Coach Beth Burns has again secured members of the nation’s top high school talent in assembling her 1999 fall recruiting class, signing Ohioans Caity Matter, a 5-10 guard, and 6-3 forward Emily Haynam. %^$
%^$Matter, a First Team all-Ohio selection and the Division III Player of the Year, enters her senior campaign with a 26.0 ppg scoring average. Ranked No. 18 nationally by the All-Star Girls Report (ASGR), Matter is a pure shooter who owns every offensive record of the Pirates’. %^$
%^$Haynam averaged 12.8 points, 4.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per game as a junior, and led the Ohio Capital Conference (OCC), collecting 9.8 rebounds per game for the Wildcats. Ranked No. 91 by ASGR, she is a first team all-OCC selection and earned honorable mention all-District laurels.%^$
