Ohio State
Iowa
Prahalis, Hill lead Buckeyes over Iowa, 84-71 – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/2/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2012
Box Score | Game Highlights | Box Score
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Even Ohio State’s 1-2 punch recognizes the problems it causes.
“It’s probably hard for them,” Tayler Hill said.
“What are you going to do, double one of us?” Samantha Prahalis added. “It’s difficult.”
Prahalis scored 30 points and Hill added 28 to rally Ohio State (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP) from a 15-point first-half deficit for an 84-71 victory over Iowa on Monday. The Buckeyes (15-0, 2-0 Big Ten) are off to their best start during the NCAA era.
“For them to account for 58 of their team’s points is amazing,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said.
Ohio State’s 15-game winning streak is the school’s longest since winning 17 in a row during the 2006-07 season. The Buckeyes won a school-record 20 in a row in 2005-06 and also in 1984-85. They have won 26 of their last 27 games, the only loss to top-seeded Tennessee in a 2011 NCAA regional semifinal.
After falling behind by 15, the Buckeyes scored 23 of the next 26 points to take the lead and then pulled away. Shooting 35 percent behind the arc coming in, Ohio State made 10 of 15 3-pointers, including 4 of 6 by Prahalis and 5 of 7 by Hill, the Big Ten scoring leader.
Prahalis had 13 points during the 23-3 run, with Hill scoring eight and Ashley Adams two. Prahalis, who finished with seven assists, had the helping pass on three of her teammates’ buckets in the spurt.
“We just had to get after it harder. It’s that simple,” said Ohio State coach Jim Foster.
The Hawkeyes had taken control at the outset, cycling passes around the perimeter to open shooters while the Buckeyes struggled to guard them. Even when they missed, Johnson was there to score on a putback.
Morgan Johnson, who led the Hawkeyes (9-6, 1-1) with 25 points, made two free throws that capped a 6-0 run for a 9-4 lead. Then on consecutive possessions Kelly Krei and Jaime Printy, who finished with 13 points, made 3-pointers to push the Iowa advantage to 22-12. Another 3 by Krei and Printy’s driving layup boosted the lead to 37-22 — with the Hawkeyes in control of the ball and under 5 minutes left in the half.
But just that quickly, the game swiveled Ohio State’s way.
The Buckeyes, a step slow all day on defense, suddenly started covering shooters and Iowa started missing. The Hawkeyes were just 1 of 8 from the field with four turnovers over the final 5 minutes while Ohio State went 6 of 10 from the field, making three of four 3-pointers and both free throws.
“They started hitting their shots in transition,” said Iowa’s Kamille Wahlin, who had 17 points. “Transition is really their game. Prahalis and Hill push it so well. Once they got that confidence going, it’s hard to stop them.”
Hill, who finished the half with 15 points, had eight straight points for the Buckeyes at one point — including back-to-back 3-pointers that seemed to energize the Buckeyes.
Ohio State didn’t let up to start the second half, either.
Prahalis put the Buckeyes ahead to stay when she made a 3 at the 18:45 mark. Amber Stokes followed with a stepback baseline jumper before Prahalis converted a free throw and then popped in a jumper from the elbow to make it 47-40. The Hawkeyes had mustered just three points over more than 8 minutes.
Prahalis later scored on a four-point play — she was fouled while making a 3 from the right wing — to push the lead to 70-55 with 9 1-2 minutes left.
Iowa, which has lost 16 of the last 18 meetings with Ohio State, closed within eight points with 90 seconds left, but the Buckeyes pulled away again.
Off to a surprising start — the Buckeyes were unranked in the preseason — now they’re trying to maintain their momentum in conference play.
“We have a board in our locker room that has the records of every team in the league,” Foster said. “We want to be at the top, and we were in the (preconference) season. So we moved that column over. Now we started the Big Ten column. And we want to be on top in that.”
Postgame Notes
? With the win, the Buckeyes moved to 15-0 on the season to improve on the best season start in program history.
? Ohio State is the lone undefeated team in the Big Ten Conference.
? The 15-game win streak is the longest by the Buckeyes since winning 17 consecutive games during the 2006-07 regular season. Ohio State won a school-record 20 consecutive in 2005-06 and during the 1984-85 campaign.
? Ohio State has won 26 of its last 27 games overall dating to last season.
? After trailing Iowa by as many as 15 points, Ohio State went on a 13-1 run in the final 2:56 of the first half to cut the Hawkeyes’ lead to one (40-39). The Buckeyes then went on an 11-2 run in the first 4:44 of the second half to secure a 50-42 lead.
? Ohio State improves to 31-26 all-time vs. Iowa and has won three consecutive games, including a 71-61 win in the Big Ten Tournament March 4, 2011.
? Entering the game as the Big Ten’s leading scorer (21.2 ppg), junior guard Tayler Hill scored 28 points and was 5-for-7 from the 3-point line in 40 minutes of action. Hill’s five 3-pointers were a career high.
? The conference leader in assists, senior guard Samantha Prahalis dished out seven assists and is now eight assists away from passing Tina Nicholson for second place on the Big Ten’s all-time list.
Big Ten Career Assist Leaders
1. 892 Nancy Kennelly, NU 1989-93
2. 826 Tina Nicholson, PSU 1993-96
3. 818 Samantha Prahalis, OSU 2009-present
? Prahalis also led all scorers with 30 points in 40 minutes. It was Prahalis’ second career 30-point game.
? Ohio State has only allowed one team (UConn) to shoot 50 percent or better over the last 48 games dating to last season. Iowa shot 40 percent Monday. Only five teams have shot 40 percent or better from the field this season against the Buckeyes.
? Since the start of the 2009-10 season, Ohio State is 59-3 when scoring at least 70 points, including 14-0 this year.
Postgame Quotes
Jim Foster, Ohio State head coach
On what Ohio State changed during the game
“Our intensity, our focus and our attention to detail defensively. We just have to get after it harder. It’s that simple.”
On Ohio State’s defense
“Our defense got our offense going. We got into transition. At the beginning of the game our defense wasn’t generating offense. We weren’t rebounding the ball the way we needed to. That energy got us going, and that allowed us to out-rebound them. They were killing us on the boards early, and then we had to take it back from them.”
On Ohio State’s mentality
“When you play the amount of games that we do, you play some better than others. Some you finish better than others, and some games you’re there for 40 minutes. Sometimes you need to remember how good your opponent is, like how good their guards are and how well they spread the floor.”
On the play of the guards
“That’s probably the seventh or eighth time our guards have played against each other. That’s our conference. You have to give respect to them.”
On his coaching style when his team is down
“I don’t tend to think negative thoughts. At least, I won’t verbalize them until we’re in the huddle. Then I’ll remind people. I’ve seen big leads come and go. There’s a significant frame of reference.”
On the start of Big Ten play
“We have a board in our locker room that has the records of every team in the league, and we want to be at the top. We were in the preseason, and we moved that column over today to start the Big Ten column. We want to be on top.”
Samantha Prahalis, senior guard
On coming back from a 15-point deficit
“I think our energy [made a difference in the game]. At first we let Iowa’s guards penetrate. It was just a matter of keeping their guards in front of us. We just needed to step up. We weren’t playing how we needed to play and how we know how to play.”
On which has a greater impact defense or offense
“Defense. Our offense will always be there; we have a lot of weapons to look for. Our defense has to be more consistent and once it is we’ll be good.”
Tayler Hill, junior guard
On Ohio State’s comeback
“There are not too many people who are going to be hot all game. We just took initiative to play defense, and took our offense one basket at a time.
On setting a career record for three-point shots made (5)
“My teammates were finding me, especially Sam (Prahalis) on the fast break. I feel like I had the hot hand at one point. It’s kind of hard to guard us on the outside with our ability to get to the bucket.”
Lisa Bluder, Iowa head coach
On her team’s game
“We came out in the first 15 minutes and played basketball, but we didn’t withstand the run. We rebounded and we did a decent job of taking care of the ball, but Ohio State had some transition 3s that fired them up.”
On Ohio State’s 17-3 run
“We shot the ball well during that time and even defended well, but when they got on a roll it took us out of our rhythm. They changed the way they were playing and had more intensity as the game went on. I think it was a matter of us playing well that got us the lead early, but I don’t think Ohio State was as into it at the beginning of the game.”
On Melissa Dixon’s injury
“It hurt us losing Dixon. She is one of our best defensive players, so it was a big loss. She gave us a big spark, so without her we didn’t have anyone to go to. We don’t know the severity of the injury right now.”
