Ohio State
LSU
No. 18 Buckeyes remain perfect, down No. 20 LSU 77-68 – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 27, 2011
Box Score | Box Score | Game Highlights | Photo Gallery
by Rusty Miller
Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio — LSU’s LaSondra Barrett summed it up in a sentence.
“(Samantha Prahalis) and Tayler Hillpretty much killed us,” she said.
Prahalis scored 28 points and flirted with a triple-double and Hill added 23 including a critical high-bouncing 3-pointer, to lead No. 18 Ohio State past No. 20 LSU 77-68 on Sunday night.
Prahalis had eight points and an assist in a 12-4 second-half run that gave the Buckeyes (5-0) the lead for good.
“We weren’t aware of where Sammy was, giving her some quality looks — and she knocked them down,” said Lady Tigers coach Nikki Caldwell.
Hill scored 19 of her 23 points in the second half.
There had been nine ties and eight lead changes when the score was tied at 48. That’s when Prahalis took over.
First, she hit two free throws at the 9:28 mark for a lead that the Buckeyes would never relinquish. After Hill followed an Amber Stokes steal with two foul shots, Prahalis hit consecutive 3-pointers, the first on a kick-out pass from Darryce Mooreand the second on a quick stop-and-pop from Hill while trailing a fast break.
Then she drove and fed Kalpana Beachfor a bucket inside and a 60-52 lead.
Prahalis finished with eight rebounds and eight assists, falling just short of her second career triple-double.
“She’s a great player,” Hill said of her 5-foot-7 running mate at guard. “She’s the smallest player on the court, but she has the biggest heart.”
LSU fought back to cut the lead to 62-56 only to have Prahalis hit a stepback jumper in transition, then feed Stokes on a break for a 66-58 advantage with 5 minutes remaining.
“I was feeling it and (my teammates) were finding me,” the Buckeyes’ lone senior said. “I just happened to have the hot hand tonight.”
The Lady Tigers countered on a 3 and another perimeter jumper by Adrienne Forthan, who finished with 15 points, before Barrett stole a tipped pass and threw a length of the court assist to Jeanne Kenney for a layup to cut it to 68-65 at the 3:18 mark.
After a timeout, the Buckeyes were down to 2 on the shot clock when Hill pumped up a desperation 3 from the left wing. The ball hit the back of the iron, bounded high in the air, and dropped through the hoop.
“As a team, after practice, we work on those late plays and playing-around 3s,” Hill said. “That’s what it felt like.”
LSU never got closer than five points again as the Buckeyes — who were 20 of 23 at the line, with Hill going 12 for 12 — hit all six of their foul shots in the final 41 seconds.
“I thought all along that people didn’t understand, when they were talking about what type of a team we were going to be, they lost sight of how good those kids (Prahalis and Hill) are,” said Ohio State coach Jim Foster.
Adrienne Webb also had 15 points and Barrett 13 for the Lady Tigers, who hit three more field goals than the Buckeyes but were outscored 20-10 at the foul line and 21-6 behind the arc.
Caldwell was upset about the loss, but considered it a learning experience for her young team.
“I told the team, we have got to come to a point where we get tired of losing,” she said. “We missed our defensive assignments and when you’re on the road, you have to have that. It’s still early; we’ve got a lot more games to play. We can get this thing turned around.”
The Lady Tigers were coming off a 44-43 home loss to another Big Ten team, Northwestern, on Tuesday night in which they blew a nine-point lead with nine minutes left.
Courtney Jones added eight points and 12 rebounds for LSU.
Beach chipped in with 13 points. Prahalis’ six 3-pointers made was a career high for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State will be tested by Florida State at home and at No. 12 Oklahoma in its next two games.
“Each one of us stepped up a little,” Prahalis said of the win over LSU. “It was a good team win. I’m happy with everyone.”
Postgame Notes
- Ohio State is now 4-3 all-time vs. LSU and has won back-to-back games against the Lady Tigers. In addition to the 77-68 win Sunday, the Buckeyes claimed a 59-55 victory at LSU last season.
- Ohio State improved to 50-5 in the month of November under head coach Jim Foster. With the win Sunday, the Buckeyes are now 5-0 in November this season.
- Ohio State is 145-13 at home overall under Jim Foster and 118-9 since the start of the 2004-05 season.
- After scoring 77 points, Ohio State has scored 70 or more points in all five games this season, including a season best 84 points vs. Stony Brook Nov. 25 (84-37).
- Shooting 22 percent from the 3-point line in the first half, Ohio State shot 63 percent in the second half and was 7-of-17 for the game (41 percent).
- Senior guard Samantha Prahalis made a career best six 3-pointers on 12 attempts, which also served as a tie for her career high. Prahalis was 9-for-19 shooting and after connecting on all four free throws, she led all scorers with 28 points in 40 minutes.
- Junior guard Tayler Hill was a career-high 12-for-12 from the free throw line, tied for fourth-best on Ohio State’s all-time list. She also shot 50 percent (5-for-10) and had 23 points – 19 in the second half – in 39 minutes.
- Freshman forward Kalpana Beach scored a personal-best 13 points and was 6-of-8 from the field. Beach also made three blocks and pulled down six rebounds in a career high 35 minutes.
Postgame Quotes
Jim Foster, Ohio State head coach
On the game
“I had a couple kids not play well in the first half, but they were a lot better in the second. We did a lot of good things today.”
On LSU’s 19 offensive rebounds
“I think offensive rebounds are the product of quick shooting. Then it becomes a crap shoot. They had a few flurries of rebounds. It wasn’t as much of a problem as it appears in the numbers because they got three or four [rebounds] on one possession. That happened a couple times.”
On LSU substitutions
“We did a pretty good job staying in front of them. The thing that was difficult for us was their rate of substitution. They could just throw people in there at any time.”
Samantha Prahalis, senior guard
On the team’s win
“I think each one of us stepped up. We started moving the ball better, bringing energy and being aware of where people were on the court. It was a good team win. We have a lot to work on, but I’m happy with where we are at right now.”
On teammate Tayler Hill
“We are veterans and we have trust in each other. We have to move the ball, attack and do what is needed to do to win. Overall, everyone has to be involved for us to be successful.”
Kalpana Beach, freshman forward
On keeping LSU off the backboard
“It was much harder this game because their players were a lot bigger and stronger than others we’ve played. I tried to box out and get a body on them to get the rebound.”
Tayler Hill, junior guard
On Prahalis’ game
“She is a great player. You can’t ask for more from a point guard. She’s the smallest player on the court, but she has the biggest heart. She’s a competitor. She wants to win and she does what she has to do to win. It’s not a surprise at all that she played this way.”
On her play in the first half
“I think I was settling for threes in the first half and was not in attack mode. Sam [Prahalis] and Coach Foster told me to attack the bucket, so that’s what I did in the second half.”
Nikki Caldwell, LSU head coach
On the game
“We knew coming in this would be a challenge. Ohio State is a well-coached, guard-oriented team and they took advantage of our defensive mistakes down the stretch. When you’re on the road, you need your defense and it wasn’t where we needed it to be in the final minutes.”
On the challenge Samantha Prahalis and Tayler Hill presented in the second half
“When you’re playing against two really good guards, you have to realize they’re going to keep coming at you. This team is learning a new defensive scheme, a matchup zone with man-to-man principles. When run correctly, it is extremely effective, but when you aren’t trapping well you get exposed. Their guards took advantage of the mistakes in the second half.”
LaSondra Barrett, LSU senior forward
On team rebounding in the second half
“I feel like we were still aggressive and we were still getting key rebounds, but they did a better job of boxing out and getting to the glass.”
On Samantha Prahalis and Tayler Hill
“I played against Sammy in AAU, so I know her game. Allowing her and Tayler to score 28 and 23 points each isn’t getting the job done.”
