Women’s Basketball Hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff Saturday in Value City Arena – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 15, 2000
The Tip
The Buckeyes remain undefeated at 7-0 following a 95-49 victory at Bowling Green Tuesday night. After a three-day intermission, the squad returns to action Saturday hosting Arkansas Pine Bluff. Tip off is 2 p.m. in Value City Arena.
Media Coverage
WBNS Radio 1460 (AM) The Fan serves as the flagship station for Ohio State women’s basketball, broadcasting over 53 statewide affiliates. Herb Howenstine and former Buckeye Kristin Watt (1983-85) will deliver the live coverage. The game can also be heard on the Buckeyes’ internet broadcast by logging on to ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
Holiday Stretch
The Buckeyes are in the midst of their own holiday hustle and bustle, tipping off a five-game homestand Saturday against Arkansas Pine Bluff. The Buckeyes will host instate rival Akron (Dec. 19) and UCLA (Dec. 21) next week before breaking for Christmas. Ohio State will open its Big Ten season Dec. 28 against Indiana and host a New Year’s Eve afternoon matchup against defending league champion Penn State before hitting the road in January.
Season Records
Ohio State is 7-0 on the year on the heels of a 95-49 victory at Bowling Green (Dec. 12). Arkansas Pine Bluff is still looking for its first win of the season after dropping its seventh in a row, 89-47, to Baylor Dec. 9.
The Series
Ohio State and Arkansas Pine Bluff will be meeting for the first time Saturday.
Bucks vs. SWA
The Buckeyes have played one other team out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference. In the 1998 Hawaii Invitational, Ohio State downed Texas Southern 80-32 in the second round.
Head Coach Beth Burns
Marking her 12th career season, the fourth at Ohio State, Coach Beth Burns continues to guide the program to heightened success both on and off the court. Last season, Burns guided the Buckeyes to a 13-15 record with a starting lineup featuring three freshmen and two sophomores. Two underclassmen earned All-Big Ten honors from that campaign, including 2000 Big Ten Freshman of the Year LaToya Turner (Pickerington, Ohio). Academically, six Buckeyes earned OSU Scholar-Athlete honors and five players, a single-season program record, attained Academic All-Big Ten laurels. 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). Burns enjoys a career record of 203-121 (.627) and is 52-39 (.571) as a Buckeye.
Buckeye Co-Captains
Guards Jamie Lewis (Oak Hill, Ohio) and Tanya McClure (Gahanna, Ohio) are co-captains of the 2000-01 Buckeye Basketball squad. It is the second such stint for Lewis who was also a co-captain during her freshman campaign with then-junior Larecha Jones.
Buckeyes Down Bowling Green
Fueled by hundreds of friends and family members of Buckeye Basketball northwest Ohio natives Caity Matter (Bluffton), DiDi Reynolds (Portage) and Lauren Shenk (Minster), the Ohio State women’s basketball team moved to 7-0 on the year with a 95-49 victory over Bowling Green (3-6) Dec. 12 in Anderson Arena.
Ohio State enjoyed its best all-around shooting performance of the season, dismantling the Falcons with 52 percent accuracy from the field and the three-point arc, and a season-high 91 percent at the free-throw line.
Six players posted double-figure scoring games for the Scarlet & Gray led by Shenk with 20 points. Center LaToya Turner added 17 points, forward Courtney Coleman (Cincinnati, Ohio) and guard Jamie Lewis scored 13 each. Reynolds capped her homecoming with 11.
The Buckeye offense kicked into high gear seven minutes into the game. Maintaining a seven-point lead (15-8), the Buckeyes produced 16 points over the next six-and-a-half minutes, while holding the Falcons to just one bucket. The end result was a 21-point advantage, 31-10, with nearly eight minutes remaining until halftime. The momentum continued and Ohio State led 46-23 at the break.
Turner, who rejected a career-high six shots, scored six of the first 10 points of the second half to build a 56-29 lead at the 15:16 mark. The Buckeye long-distance shooters took over from there, contributing to a 20-4 rally with four consecutive treys that help extend the lead to 76-33 with nine minutes remaining.
Ohio State connected on 10-of-19 three-point attempts for the game, led by Shenk who connected on four out of six.
Buckeye Injury Report
Guard Tanya McClure and forward Courtney Bale (Vista, Calif.) remain on the injury roster. McClure, 5-4, has been idle since Nov. 20, nursing a fracture in her left foot and is out for an indefinite period of time. The 6-2 Bale stepped on a teammate’s foot in practice Nov. 26 and fractured her left fibula. She will be out four to six weeks total.
Arkansas Pine Bluff Head Coach Kenneth Conley
Kenneth Conley (Arkansas Pine Bluff, 1981) is in his eighth season at the helm of the Golden Lionettes program, touting a 70-130 career record.
Scouting The Lionettes
Arkansas Pine Bluff returns four starters, including 6-1 forward Cherbritta Scott, who leads the team averaging 12.9 points per game. Center Kenya Lockhart and Whitney Stewart form a solid tandem in the paint. Stewart, six-foot, is collecting a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game. Lockhart, 5-10, just trails her teammate, collecting 6.3 caroms per outing.
Turner’s Making Her Move
Center LaToya Turner has compiled 11 blocks in the last two games, including a career-high six vs. Bowling Green (Dec. 10). The 6-4 sophomore, who ranks 14th nationally in blocks per game (2.8 bpg), has 19 this season, 55 total in just 34 career games. Her total ranks eighth on the Buckeye blocks ledgers.
Career Blocks Leaders 1. Mary Sivak 241 1978-82 2. Francine Lewis 124 1982-86 3. Tracey Hall 109 1984-88 4. Mindy Smith 66 1987-90 5. June Brewer 65 1974-78 6. Lisa Negri 60 1993-96 7. Carla Chapman 57 1981-85 8. LaToya Turner 55 2000- 9. Lisa Cline 51 1985-89
Lewis Is No. 1
Guard Jamie Lewis, distributing 10 or more assists in five of the last seven games, ranks as the No. 1 assists leader in the country, distributing 9.9 per game. Lewis passed Ohio State Olympian Katie Smith on the career assists ladder Dec. 10, and with 455, ranks third all-time. The senior co-captain will enter Saturday’s game 37 short of becoming the No. 2 Ohio State leader. The post is currently held by 1989 Big Ten Player of the Year Lisa Cline (491).
Career Assists Leaders 1. Yvette Angel 562 1981-85 2. Lisa Cline 491 1985-89 3. Jamie Lewis 455 1995- 4. Katie Smith 444 1993-96 5. Cheryl Perozek 341 1988-91
Lewis Attacks Steals Ladder
While it’s not possible to overlook guard Jamie Lewis’ assault on the career assists ladder, the 5-5 guard is quietly waging another campaign in career steals. Lewis collected three take-aways Tuesday to move into the Top 10 all-time listing.
Career Steals Leaders 1. Yvette Angel 326 1981-85 2. Averrill Roberts 273 1990-93 3. Tracey Hall 259 1984-88 4. Lisa Cline 237 1985-89 5. Nikita Lowry 190 1985-89 6. Katie Smith 174 1993-96 7. Audrey Burcy 168 1990-93 8. Toni Roesch 156 1982-86 9. Marrita Porter 155 1995-99 10.Jamie Lewis 147 1999-
Elite Company
The Buckeyes are grouped in pretty elite company as an undefeated squad. At 7-0, Ohio State touts the best record in the Big Ten Conference and is one of 17 teams in the country without a loss. Auburn carries the most number of wins with nine. Defending national champion and No. 1-ranked Connecticut (7-0) enjoys the nation’s longest win streak of 24 games.
Eye On The Prize
Sophomore forward Courtney Coleman maintained her hold on the Big Ten Conference’s No. 1 ranking in field goal shooting. Coleman was perfect from the floor against Bowling Green (Dec. 12), connecting on each of her six attempts. The Cincinnati, Ohio, native is averaging a sizzling 73 percent (30-of-41) from the floor.
More Sharpshooting
Ohio State enjoyed its best all-around shooting performances of the season against Bowling Green (Dec. 12), connecting on 52 percent of its attempts from the floor and the charity stripe, and a season high 91 percent at the stripe. No surprise perhaps for a squad that ranks as one of the country’s top offensive teams.
Scoring offense 12th 83.8% Scoring margin 5th 28.0% FG Pct. 7th 50.3%
Bucks Get Stingy, Too
The Buckeyes tout the No. 1 scoring offense in the Big Ten, averaging 85.4 points per game, but have not abandoned their defensive roots.
The Buckeyes lead the league in steals (13.0) and rebounding defense (29.1) and are second in scoring defense (54.9 ppg).
It Couldn’t Be Tougher
The playing environment for an opposing team in Value City Arena, that is. The Buckeyes are 3-0 at home entering the start of their three games over six days non-conference run. Opponents have been barred to no more than 46.3 ppg. Seton Hall has had the toughest time so far in Columbus, scoring a season-low 38 points on Nov. 29.
Sudden Impact
Freshman Caity Matter collected a career-high eight rebounds vs. the Falcons (Dec. 12) while adding nine points and four assists to the boxscore. A starter in every contest, she is averaging a respectable 8.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Versatility appears to be her ticket to Buckeye fortune, having played at small forward and point guard with relative success. The 5-10 guard/forward is shooting 43 percent from the floor and 85 percent from the charity stripe.
Charting Turner
LaToya Turner tied her career record Tuesday for consecutive double-figure scoring games, recording her seventh vs. Bowling Green.
Turner who ranks 14th in the country in blocks per game, rejected a career-high six vs. BGSU.
A native of Pickerington, Ohio, Turner also is one of the standout performers in the Big Ten as she ranks No. 2 in scoring (19.8 ppg), fourth in rebounding (8.0 rpg) and steals (2.83), and No. 1 in blocks (2.17 bpg) in statistics compiled through Dec. 11.
Turner Game-By-Game Pts. Rebs. Blks. Stls. Cleveland State 37 14 2 2 Valparaiso 15 5 1 2 Rhode Island 10 8 1 4 Seton Hall 18 8 4 5 LBSU 19 5 0 2 Wisconsin-GB 20 8 5 2 Bowling Green 17 6 6 4
The Ink Is Dry
Fourth-year Ohio State Coach Beth Burns, who signed the nation’s No. 2-ranked recruiting class in 1998, has again secured a pool of the country’s top high school talent. Joining the Buckeyes for the 2001-02 season will be All-America prepster Ashley Allen, a 5-foot-10 inch guard from Ben Davis (Indiana) High School, First Team All-Ohio selections Jackson guard Beth Howe, 5-7, and Grove City power forward Charisse Crews, 6-2, and Minnesota preseason player of the year nominee Brandee Gibbs, a 6-5 center at Orono.2000-01 Buckeye
Television Schedule
The Ohio State women’s basketball program will enjoy more television coverage than ever before with the Ohio News Network (ONN), Central Ohio Sports Television and Fox Sports Chicago assisting in delivering the excitement of Buckeye Basketball to homes throughout the state and the Midwest.
Next Time Out
Ohio State returns to action Tuesday hosting Akron at 7 p.m. in Value City Arena.
