Ohio State
Florida State
Hill leads Buckeyes to 78-75 overtime win over FSU – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2011
Box Score | Box Score | Game Highlights
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Tayler Hillhad a career-high 31 points, including 20 after halftime and five in overtime, to lead No. 17 Ohio State to a 78-75 win against Florida State on Wednesday night in the Big/Ten ACC Challenge.
Hill made a free throw to pull the Buckeyes (6-0) within 75-74 with 59 seconds remaining and then scored the go-ahead layup with 31 seconds to go.
Ohio State, which plays at No. 18 Oklahoma on Sunday, got the ball back when Cierra Bravard was tied up and the possession arrow favored the Buckeyes. Hill hit two foul shots with 14 seconds left and the Seminoles had a chance to tie it, but Alexa Deluzio missed a 3-pointer from the right corner.
The rebound went out of bounds to Florida State (3-5), but Ashley Adamsstole the ball and a wild scramble ensued. Both benches emptied at the buzzer, but order was restored.
Bravard, a native of Sandusky, Ohio, had 27 points for the Seminoles.
Samantha Prahalis, who fouled out with 10 seconds remaining in regulation, finished with 11 points and 11 assists for her second double-double of the season. Adams also had a double-double with 13 points and a career-high 14 rebounds.
Ohio State, who has now won its last two Challenge games, led 33-31 at the half on the heels of a 16-5 run over the last 5:22 after FSU had built a 26-17 lead. The run was highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers by Hill and Prahalis.
Freshman Kalpana Beach finished with 11 points — all in the second half — and eight rebounds. Classmate Raven Fergusonfinished with eight points, including two 3-pointers in the second half to help the Buckeyes battle back late in regulation.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
Postgame Notes
? In just their second meeting, Ohio State and Florida State are tied in the all-time series at one apiece. The Seminoles won the previous meeting, 60-49, in the opening round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.
? The game vs. Florida State was the first overtime contest for the Buckeyes since Feb. 21, 2010, a 71-68 Ohio State setback to Michigan State.
? The Buckeyes improve to 21-13 all-time vs. teams currently in the ACC and now are 2-3 in the brief history of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
? Ohio State has scored 70 or more points in each of its games this season. Additionally, with the win Wednesday night, the Buckeyes improve to 51-5 in the month of November under head coach Jim Foster.
? Ohio State has owned the lead at halftime in each of its six games this season.
? Ohio State is 146-13 at home overall under Jim Foster and 119-9 since the start of the 2004-05 season.
? Senior guard Samantha Prahalis and sophomore center Ashley Adams became the first Buckeye duo to record a double-double in the same game since March 19, 2011 vs. UCF in the NCAA tournament. Prahalis scored 11 points and dished out 11 assists, while Adams had 13 points and 14 rebounds.
? Adams also added a career high 14 rebounds.
? Junior guard Tayler Hill led all scorers with a career-best 31 points. She had a personal high in steals with six and also added seven rebounds.
? Redshirt junior guard Amber Stokes recorded a career high in steals with five.
Postgame Quotes
Jim Foster, Ohio State head coach
On Tayler Hill’s performance
“I thought she made plays. She wanted the responsibility of the game and made plays and made shots and defended. That’s what players do, good players.”
On junior guard Tayler Hill and senior guard Samantha Prahalis running the point
“Maybe three percent of the time Tayler (Hill) runs the point for us, but not as much today because there were a lot of foul shots and dead balls; not as much transition. Sammy (Prahalis) is running the ball more often than not, but Tayler (Hill) runs the point more frequently. It was more available to us as a way to get to the basket rather frequently.”
On the impact of Samantha Prahalis fouling out
“You can’t depend on having every player you need at the time you need them. That’s the way the game is. Whether its fouls or injuries flaring up, you have to be able to adjust on the fly.”
On Ashley Adams’ performance
“She came out with a couple shots early on, but I was much happier with her defense and rebounds. She got a couple two-handed rebounds and it seemed like she could have had a few more. Our defense produces a lot of things. She [Adams] had 14 rebounds and three blocked shots. It shows we have enough gas in our engine to win a game when it isn’t pretty.”
Samantha Prahalis, senior guard
On her performance
“I felt I couldn’t do anything right. It was just one of those nights where I was feeling a little bit off. It was a little sloppy, but everyone stepped up and that’s the good thing. When I’m out and they’re stepping up, that’s great.”
On Tayler Hill’s performance
“It’s crazy, but it’s not surprising. We know Tayler is a great player and down the stretch I have complete faith in her.”
On Ashley Adams’ performance
“She stepped up when she needed to and she played aggressive when we needed her to be. I thought she played great.”
Tayler Hill, junior guard
On the team’s effort in overtime
“We were determined. If we had played like that the entire game, we wouldn’t have been in the situation we were in.”
On her game
“Tonight was one of my best college games because I had to step up and make big plays at the end. I think you still have to look at what a great game Sam [Prahalis] had as well. In the end, we all came together as a team when we needed to.”
On recovering from her missed free throws
“I had to step to the line and focus. I knew they were clutch free throws and it was down the stretch. I focused on the rim and nothing else. I blocked out the crowd and everything else except for the fact that I was shooting free throws.”
Ashley Adams, sophomore center
On her focus in tonight’s game
“I was definitely focused on my defense. They had some big girls and it was definitely a challenge to stop them.”
On Tayler Hill’s last minute in overtime
“We see her do things like that every day in practice. It’s not really shocking.”
Sue Semrau, Florida State head coach
On the overall game
“It was a back and forth game. It was a great game. Cierra (Bravard) played extremely well. I’m proud of my team tonight. We have a tough, tough schedule and this was just one of those games. We’ll get back to the drawing board when we get home.”
On what Florida State did well
“I thought we executed our defense well, we had been working on it. We switched defenses and I thought we did a great job of that.”
On missing a player tonight
“We were without one of our guards tonight, who at practice today rolled an ankle. That depth tonight hurt us. I thought our girls stepped up and were able to keep (Samantha) Prahalis in check.”
On senior guard Samantha Prahalis fouling out and missing overtime
“I thought Raven (Ferguson) came in and did a very nice job. I thought she was somebody we needed to defend. I think both teams were extremely tired. It turned out to be more of a defensive battle than a shooting game in overtime.”
On junior guard Tayler Hill
“She was excellent tonight. I know that Jim (Foster) has challenged her to be more of a play maker than a stand still shooter. I think she’s done a great job of that. I think down the run she couldn’t do wrong so she took the shots and they went in for her.”
Cierra Bravard, FSU senior forward
On the overall game
“It was a great game. It was back and forth. Both teams played extremely hard. The outcome was unfortunate. A lot of people look at the end score and think `oh we lost,’ but as a team there are many things we got better at. We’ve had a rough start to the season and miracles don’t happen overnight. We’re setting ourselves up for the postseason. Every game, we’re getting closer together and getting better as a team.”
On improving their game
“We had to stay mentally focused and focus on getting better. We’re getting what we want on offense, but if we don’t get stops, the game won’t go our way. We focused on getting stops and things started to look better.”
