Women’s Basketball (11-10, 4-7) Takes On Northwestern (6-15, 3-8) – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/10/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 10, 2000
The Tip
Sunday’s game vs. the Northwestern Wildcats is extremely important to the Buckeyes who are working to cap the Big Ten regular season on the winning end. The Buckeyes are eighth this week in the Big Ten standings at 4-7 with just four games remaining to be played. Northwestern, which will play at Illinois Thursday, has lost five games in a row and is tied for ninth place with Iowa at 3-8.
Over The Years
The series with Northwestern is the closest among all Big Ten rivals with Ohio State holding an 18-15 edge. The Buckeyes are 9-5 against the Wildcats in Columbus but operate at a deficit in Evanston, Ill., where Northwestern enjoys a 9-7 advantage. The Buckeyes have a 2-1 edge on a neutral floor.
Wildcats Complete The Rotation
Northwestern’s appearance Sunday afternoon means that every women’s team in the Big Ten Conference has now played in Value City Arena. Michigan, which played here last week, and the Wildcats were the only two teams remaining that had not yet played in the third largest arena for women’s basketball.
Head Coach Beth Burns
Marking her 11th career season, the third at Ohio State, Coach Beth Burns continues to guide the program to success both on and off the court. Last season, Burns guided the Scarlet & Gray contingent to a 17-12 campaign and to its first NCAA tournament in three years. In addition, a 9-7, fourth-place finish in the league marked Ohio State’s best effort since its 1993 Big Ten Championship run. Academically, six returnees earned OSU Scholar-Athletes laurels with two tabbing academic all-Big Ten honors. Last time out, the Buckeyes lost a close battle against Michigan, 65-61, on their home floor.
Freshman center LaToya Turner paced the squad with her second career double-double, scoring 13 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. Junior guard Jamie Lewis added 10 points and eight assists for Ohio State.
The Buckeyes kept the game close throughout, closing to within one, 43-42 on a charity toss by Jamie Lewis at the 10:58 mark in the second half. The Wolverines, however, went on a 12-4 run over the next five minutes, opening a nine-point lead with a little more that five minutes to play.
Ann Thorius paced Michigan with 17 points. Stacey Thomas added 11 points and 12 rebounds in securing the program’s first-ever win in Columbus.
Burns on Michigan
“We’re frustrated right now. We did a lot of things right and we did a lot of things we have to do against a very good team.
“You can’t play a team that well, hold them 15 points under their average, but only make 11-of-24 from the free throw line. That stands out in a game where you only lose by four.”
Northwestern Coach June Olkowski
Northwestern coach June Olkowski is in her first year at the helm for the Wildcats. She held the same position at Butler from 1993-99, leaving as the all-time winningest coach in program history. While at Butler, Olkowski averaged 19 wins per season and was voted the MCC Coach of the Year three seasons. In addition, she served as the head coach at Arizona beginning in 1987, becoming the youngest-ever head coach in NCAA history at the age of 27. Olkowski played for current Illinois coach Theresa Grentz at Rutgers and earned All-America honors during her career. She captained the Scarlet Knights to the 1982 national championship and is the first women’s player at Rutgers to have her jersey retired.
On Northwestern
The Wildcats are 6-15 overall and 3-8 in the Big Ten. The squad is led by junior Tami Sears, a 6-2 center, who is averaging 12.1 points and 6.9 boards per game overall and 13.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in Big Ten contests. She is shooting over 48 percent from the floor and averages 35 minutes a game in Big Ten matchups. Dana Leonard, a 5-6 junior guard, is second in scoring with 10.8 points per game, while senior Leslie Schock, a 6-0 forward, ranks third with a 9.0 scoring average. Kristina Divjak, six-foot, is a fifth-year senior forward who paced the squad in scoring (16.5 ppg) last year before undergoing knee surgery. Still challenged by the injury, Divjak has only played in four Big Ten games this season, averaging 8.8 minutes.
Last Year vs. Northwestern
Ohio State shot a season low 29 percent from the floor and tied its season low for points in a 48-41 loss at Northwestern Jan. 17.
The Buckeyes, who trailed nearly the entire game, tried feverishly to sink a game-tying trey in the last 25 seconds of the game, but came up short to suffer their first league loss of the season.
Both squads played to halftime tie at 22-all.
In Wildcat fashion, Northwestern opened the second half with a 13-4 run to take a nine-point lead (31-24), the largest of the game, with 12:28 left play.
Still down by seven points with less than seven minutes to play, the Buckeyes rallied to close the gap to two with 2:22 remaining but it was Northwestern from that point on, scoring the last five points of the game.
Coleman On A Roll
Freshman forward Courtney Coleman is likely to become a point of focus on opponents’ scouting reports as the season winds down. Coleman has shot 73.3 percent (11-of-15 FGs) from the floor in the last three games, boosting her season average of 5.4 points per game to 10.7 ppg.
Turner Marks
Frosh Blocks Record
Freshman center LaToya Turner posted a block at Purdue (2-3) to give her 22 for the year and the most-ever recorded by a freshman. Her total bettered that of Lisa Negri who had 21 as a frosh in 1993.
The 6-4 center is just one rejection shy of tying the most blocks recorded in four seasons (23 by Tiffany Glosson).
Year Blocks Leaders No. 2000 LaToya Turner 22 1999 Larecha Jones 17 1998 Mindy Smith 15 1997 Larecha Jones 14 1996 Tiffany Glosson 23 1995 Lisa Negri 30
Brown Keeps Producing
Despite the Buckeyes’ up and down progress, the one element about the team that has remained constant is the progress of sophomore guard Tomeka Brown. Brown has emerged as the Buckeyes’ third-leading scorer and No. 2 rebounder in Big Ten play, averaging 7.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.
Homecourt Advantage
Value City Arena is quickly becoming a place no opponent wants to play in as the Buckeyes’ patented defense has held its last three opponents at home to an average 58.3 ppg and forced 75 turnovers (25.0 avg.). Michigan State, which scored a season-low 50 points Jan. 27, turned the ball over on 32 counts. Indiana, scoring 60 points, committed 24 turnovers, its third-highest total of the season. Against Michigan, the Buckeyes held the Wolverines to 65 points vs. their season scoring average of 72.0 ppg. Ohio State’s scoring defense ranks second in the Big Ten at 59.8 points per game.
Lewis Keeps Climbing
Despite undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery July 6, junior guard Jamie Lewis has continued her assault on the Ohio State career assists record book. Climbing from 13th place at the onset of the season, Lewis tied her season-high mark for assists with eight vs. Michigan. The Oak Hill, Ohio native now has sole possession of the fourth all-time slot with 349.
Career Assists Leaders 1. Yvette Angel 562 1981-85 2. Lisa Cline 491 1985-89 3. Katie Smith 444 1993-96 4. Jamie Lewis 349 1995- 5. Cheryl Perozek 341 1988-91
Buckeyes Aim To Re-aim
Ohio State suffered it second worst day at the charity stripe this season, shooting a dismal 45.8 percent (11-24) vs. Michigan Sunday. Just four games back, the Buckeyes shot a season-low 42.9 percent (6-14) at Wisconsin Jan. 23.
No Shying Away
Ohio State played its sixth game this season against a ranked opponent Feb. 3 in No. 17 Purdue. The youthful Buckeyes are 1-5 overall in the effort.
Team Rank Result Rutgers (12-1) No. 7 L, 46-35 Georgia (12-19) No. 5 L, 91-59 Illinois (12-30) No. 17 L, 63-57, ot Purdue (1-13) No. 18 W, 53-51 Penn State (1-20) No. 4 L, 73-62 Purdue (2-3) No. 17 L, 75-52
Non-Conference Wrap-Up
Ohio State matched its non-conference record of a year ago, recording a 7-3 effort. Of the Buckeyes’ seven victories, six were claimed by 30 points or more and by holding each of those opponents to no more than 50 points. The Buckeyes forced 5-of-10 teams to eclipse the 30-turnover plateau.
In an even more impressive run on the homefront in December, the Buckeyes went 4-1 in a five-game home stretch, while its scoring defense held opponents to a stifling 49.6 ppg., and forced an average 25.8 turnovers.
In the last game on the non-league schedule, Ohio State held the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks to a .204 (31-of-64) shooting percentage in the contest, just .004 percentage points shy of an OSU opponent record low. In 1981, OSU held Western Michigan to just .200 off 15-of-75 shooting.
Let `Em Play
Showcasing five freshmen in the 1999-2000 season apparently is no problem for head coach Beth Burns who has played each member of the Class of 2003 frequently and without hesitation. Three of the five newcomers have started at least once this season, playing in nearly a third of the overall minutes clocked. Center LaToya Turner and guard Tanya McClure lead the pack, averaging 22.3 and 16.2 minutes, respectively, in overall games.
Buckeye All-Star
For Lauren Shenk, the summer of 1999 was anything but typical. The 5-10 sophomore guard enjoyed the fruits of a four-game exhibition tour in Belgium and Germany as a member of the Big Ten All-Star Team. The unit posted a 3-1 record with Shenk pacing the scoring effort with an 11.0 scoring clip. The long-range shooting talent tied the Buckeye freshman record for three-pointers last season, draining 43 on the year. Shenk ranked third in the league in shooting proficiency with a clip of .382 and sank a trey in 23-of-28 games, including a Value City Arena record 5-of-7 performance vs. Illinois Jan. 8.
Scholar-Athletes
Six returning members of the Buckeye Basketball team attained scholar-athlete laurels last season. Senior Michaela Moua, juniors Courtney Bale and Mandy Stanhope, and sophomores Tomeka Brown, Laura Ingham and Lauren Shenk all earned OSU Scholar-Athlete honors, maintaining GPAs of 3.0 and higher. Moua and Stanhope also tabbed Academic all-Big Ten recognition.
We’re No. 2
In just two seasons, Coach Beth Burns’ talent as a top-notch recruiter has resulted in her securing the No. 2-ranked freshman class in the country. The all-Ohio class consist of two nationally-ranked players in 6-4 center LaToya Turner (Pickerington High School) and 5-4 point guard Tanya McClure (Gahanna-Lincoln) who were hailed at No. 2 and No. 7, respectively at their positions. Forward DiDi Reynolds, 6-1, reigns as the Division IV Player of the Year out of Hopewell-Loudon. Also joining the frontcourt are Ohio Capital Conference standout D’wan Shackleford, 6-0, and Courtney Coleman, 6-2, of Cincinnati Hughes who ranked sixth in the state last year, collecting 15.9 caroms per game.
Buckeye Class of 2000
Head Coach Beth Burns has again secured members of the nation’s top high school talent in assembling her 1999 fall recruiting class, signing Ohioans Caity Matter, a 5-10 guard, and 6-3 forward Emily Haynam.
Matter, a First Team all-Ohio selection and the Division III Player of the Year, enters her senior campaign with a 26.0 ppg scoring average. Ranked No. 18 nationally by the All-Star Girls Report (ASGR), Matter is a pure shooter who owns every offensive record of the Pirates’.
Haynam averaged 12.8 points, 4.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per game as a junior, and led the Ohio Capital Conference (OCC), collecting 9.8 rebounds per game for the Wildcats. Ranked No. 91 by ASGR, she is a first team all-OCC selection and earned honorable mention all-District laurels.
Beth Burns Show
The “Beth Burns Show” can be seen each Sunday morning at noon through March 12 on WSYX-TV (Channel 6). Join Ohio State Coach Beth Burns and host Clay Hall for an in-depth look at Buckeye Basketball, player features, and all the latest news and results on the 2000 Big Ten title race.
Buckeyes — Take Two
Insight Communications — SPORT! TV will replay today’s game Tuesday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. on Insight Channel 36 and Time Warner Channel 24. The replay is one of six games this season on the Big Ten home schedule that will be featured locally on a tape delayed basis.
What The Experts Say
Big Ten Coaches
Preseason Top-Five Picks
1. Penn State
2. Illinois
3. Wisconsin
4. Purdue
5. Michigan & Michigan State
Preseason All-Big Ten Picks
Andrea Garner (PSU), Susan Blauser (ILL), Katie Douglas (PUR), Helen Darling (PSU), LaTonya Sims (WIS).
Big Ten Media
Preseason Top-Three Picks
1. Illinois
2. Penn State
3. Purdue
Preseason All-Big Ten Picks
Katie Douglas (PUR), Andrea Garner (PSU), Susan Blauser (ILL), LaTonya Sims (WIS), Tauja Catchings (ILL).
Next Time Out
Ohio State will embark on a three-game road trek which begins Thursday with an 8 p.m. tip vs. the Iowa Hawkeyes. Play continues Sunday, Feb. 20 at Illinois and Feb. 24 at Indiana.
The Buckeyes will close their regular season Sunday, Feb. 27, hosting the No. 6-ranked Penn State Lady Lions.
