40 Years of Magic – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/2/2004 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 2, 2004
Ohio State Women’s Basketball
40-Year Celebration … Minutes, Milestones, Years
Weekly Ballot
Women’s basketball tipped off for the first time at Ohio State in 1965 under the direction of head coach Phyllis Bailey, who later became an associate athletics director at Ohio State. In her first season, the Buckeyes compiled a 4-3 mark, against in-state schools.
Bailey gets most of the credit when it comes to launching an intercollegiate women’s basketball team at Ohio State. When she came to Columbus in 1956, Bailey began working for Ohio State’s department of physical education, which at the time included men’s intercollegiate athletics and women’s club sports. She was selected to coach women’s basketball, not because of her knowledge of the game, but because she was the tallest female on the staff.
Soon after Bailey began coaching, the men’s team moved into St. John Arena. Meanwhile, the women’s team played at Pomerene Hall, located on the south part of the OSU campus on Neil Avenue near Mirror Lake. The gymnasium had a shortened court with no bleachers and the team personally set up 50 chairs along one sideline for spectators.
In the spring of 1964, the Buckeye pioneer decided to speak up in front of the physical education faculty and address the increasing popularity of women’s sports at Ohio State.
“I thought it was time to call our program what it truly was,” Bailey said. “It no longer was a sport program. It was an intercollegiate program. The coaching staff had tryouts and made cuts. We had a full schedule and a set of rules and regulations to follow. I had about 20 things written down ready to argue if anyone had doubts. Finally someone said, `if that’s that you think it ought to be, go ahead and make it one.'”
Ohio State women’s athletics was then granted the intercollegiate title. By 1973, when Title IX began to re-shape collegiate athletics, Ohio State already was one of the most advanced female athletic programs in the nation. That same year, the Buckeyes moved from Pomerene Hall into St. John Arena, which would serve as its home for the next 24 years.
After a comfortable six years in St. John Arena, the Buckeye program had its first major award to show off when Frani Washington was named Ohio State’s first All-American in 1979. An all-around player, the Buckeye forward held school records for 16 years with 711 points in a season and 39 points in a game.
Another milestone to the sport was introduced at the beginning of the 1981-82 season with the official start of the NCAA tournament. Official Big Ten Conference play began the following season and during that year, the Buckeyes compiled a 15-3 league record and tied for first place in the conference. During the next three seasons, Ohio State claimed Big Ten titles and again tied for first place in 1987.
Tara VanDerveer, head coach from 1980-85, led the Buckeyes to their first NCAA tournament in 1982 and guided the team to an Elite Eight appearance in her final season with Ohio State. She still has the highest winning percentage (.748) of any Ohio State women’s coach with a 110-37 mark in five seasons.
Nancy Darsch was hired to take over for VanDerveer in 1985. In her first five seasons at the helm, Darsch and the Buckeyes made five consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament. Tracey Hall became Ohio State’s second basketball All-American and the Big Ten’s first two-time All-American, receiving the prestigious honor in 1987 and 1988. On the heels of Hall’s graduation, Nikita Lowry was honored as the Buckeyes’ third All-American in 1989.
After a two-year absence from NCAA tournament action, Ohio State presented a strong showing in the 1993 NCAA Tournament and eventually made a run to the NCAA Final Four and an appearance in the national title game. The Buckeyes fell in an 84-82 heartbreaker to Texas Tech. Despite the loss, the 1992-93 season is still the most celebrated season in program history.
That year also marked the rookie season of Katie Smith, the most decorated player in Ohio State women’s basketball history, who helped guide the team to its runner-up finish. She became the first freshman to earn Kodak All-America status since Southern California’s Cheryl Miller garnered such laurels in 1983. Throughout Smith’s four years as a Buckeye, the two-time All-American rewrote the school record books and continues to hold the school record for points (2,578), games (124), field goals (826), 3-point field goals made (218) and attempted (564), free throws made (708) and attempted (845) and free-throw percentage (.838) for a career.
Darsch led the Buckeyes to another NCAA tournament trip in 1996 and in 1998, under the direction of head coach Beth Burns, the Buckeyes moved from St. John Arena across Olentangy River Road to its new home, Value City Arena at the Jerome Schottenstein Center. During a span of 24 years, in St. John Arena, eight Big Ten championships were claimed and four All-Americans graced the court of the historic arena.
In January 2001, Smith’s No. 30 jersey was retired in front of more than 10,000 fans and it remains the only women’s number to hang from the rafters of Value City Arena. Notably, the Buckeyes went on to finish the season as WNIT champions. In September of the same year, Smith then became the first women’s basketball player inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility.
After Beth Burns’ five-year tenure in Columbus, Jim Foster was hired to take over the reigns of the program in 2002 and has since guided Ohio State to back-to-back appearances in the NCAA tournament. Foster also rekindled another tradition with the return of women’s basketball games to historic St. John Arena. The Buckeyes played host to two regular-season games in the venue during the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons. NCAA tournament action also returned to the historic arena for the first time in 10 years, playing host to first and second round action in 2004.
Each coach, student-athlete and fan that has shared in the tradition of Ohio State women’s basketball is sure to have their own memories. During the 2004-05 season, many of them will be remembered in a celebration of 40 fantastic seasons. To help celebrate the anniversary of the program, 40 milestones over the 40 years of the program will be selected by a university committee and a vote from the fans. Fans can go online to ohiostatebuckeyes.com to cast their vote. Throughout the course of the upcoming season, a handful of milestones will be introduced at halftime of select women’s basketball games until all 40 have been recognized.
“Celebrating something like that really represents all the players that have been through the program,” Caity Matter, Ohio State senior guard, said. “There has been such a great tradition and it’s great to be celebrating that achievement. It really is something special for any female athlete. Our class wants to have a great year. We want to be part of the tradition of a program that keeps getting better and better.”
Smith returned to Ohio State last year to take classes in preparation for dental school. She also served as a student assistant with the program and will resume that position again this season.
“It’s awesome to be a part of the 40th anniversary,” Smith said. “I am really getting a chance to see the next generation of players coming through and making their mark. Ohio State has an excellent tradition. It’s amazing to know how many great players have come before us and every player that is yet to come. It’s really bigger than life.”
Who will be the next Ohio State All-American? When will the program make another outstanding run in the NCAA tournament? Stay tuned, basketball fans. It may be sooner than you think.
The Buckeyes, who were picked first to win the Big Ten by the coaches, will kick off their 40th season in style with an exhibition game against the Australian Institute of Sport Nov. 10. The season officially begins Nov. 12 when Ohio State plays host to Bowling Green in the first round of the 2004 Preseason Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) in Value City Arena.
