Women's Basketball
Buckeyes Bully Yale, 80-43
By John Porentas
Yale (0-3) is big, and probably smart, but the Buckeyes
(4-1) were far too athletic and quick for the Bulldogs and ran away
to a lopsided 80-43 win in the first round of the 2004 Wonder/Hostess
- Buckeyes classic at St. John Arena.
Yale's starting lineup averages 6-1, including 6-4 forward
Julie Mantilla and 6-3 center Erica Davis, but OSU's speed and quickness
more-than negated the size advantage Yale had at every starting position
except center where OSU's 6-4 Jess Davenport matched up with Davis.
The Buckeyes amassed 14 steals in forcing 23 turnovers
and outscored Yale 18-2 in fast break points. They also outscored
Yale 21-8 in points off turnovers.
The teams played relatively even for about five minutes,
but at the 14:35 mark the Buckeyes began a run that would give them
a 15-6 lead with 12:45 left to play in the half. They never looked
back after that, extending their first-half lead to as-many-as 18.
"What I liked was that Brandie Hoskins was more
aggressive offensivley early, and I think that that's important for
us," said OSU Head Coach Jim Foster.
Davenport led the Buckeyes in scoring with 18 points.
Her substitute, 6-1 freshman Tamarah Riley, added 12. Guard Brandie
Hoskins chipped in 11 and forward Michelle Munoz 10 to pace the Buckeye
scoring.
A total of twelve players saw significant playing time
for OSU with no player logging less-than 11 minutes. The Buckeyes
logged 27 assists in the game.
"We did a good job of sharing the ball," said
Foster. "Anytime you have 27 assists on 32 baskets, you're coaching
an unselfish basketball team."
Foster shuffled his starting lineup some for the game.
Ashley Allen got the start at point guard, replacing Kim Wilburn at
that position. Foster also called on freshman Marscilla Packer more
in this game than he had in pervious contests this season. Packer
logged 16 minutes and scored eight points.
"I wanted more verbalization," said Foster
explaining his lineup shuffle.
"Ashley will direct traffic and is vocal on the
floor. It's something that Kim is working on and will improve on.
We start a very quiet first group and we have a very noisy second
group. We'd like the first group to learn to talk a little bit more,"
Foster said.
Game Notes
* OSU is rebounding from it's first loss of the season
suffered last week against Notre Dame in the finals of the preseason
WNIT. Foster saw improvement in his team's play against Yale. He was
especially pleased with OSU's fast break game.
"I thought that was something we didn't do well
against Notre Dame," said Foster.
"I think we had some great run out opporutunites
against Notre Dame and we made some very questionable decisions. I
think today we did a better job of making good decisions. It's an
area we worked hard on this week and all year, but I think some are
really beginning to pick up and understand where there's opportunity."
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