Women's Basketball
No. 3 Buckeyes Impressive in Win over UNC Greensboro
By John PorentasNo. 3 Ohio State moved its season record to 6-0 with an impressive 89-56 win over the University of North Carolina Greensboro (1-3) at Value City Arena.
The game remained close for about five minutes but OSU's overall superior athleticism and size proved to be more than UNCG could match. The Buckeyes went up by 11 on a basket by Jantel Lavender with 11:24 remaining in the first half and never really looked back from that point on. OSU stretched the lead to 18 at the half and led by as many as 43 in the second half before OSU Head Coach Jim Foster began substituting very liberally.
"Ohio State is a an outstanding team with tremendous talent," said UNCC Head Coach Lynne Agee.
"For us to walk in here and think we were going to beat Ohio State is ridiculous.
"You can't beat that size, you can't beat that size and that skill."
A big part of the size and skill Agee was referring to is OSU junior center Jantel Lavender. Lavender logged just 27 minutes but managed 27 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Samantha Prahalis added 13 points and 11 assists for a double-double, and junior forward Sarah Schultze added 11 points in a performance that included three of three shooting from three point range. In all 13 Buckeyes saw action and 12 of them scored.
"It's clearly a different level," said Agee.
"That's the big time. We are not."
Though Agee's team was never really in contention, they competed to the final horn and acquitted themselves as well as possible against an obviously superior opponent,.
"I tried not to look at the point total," said Agee. "We tried not to thing of the score and just execute and compete and do what what we could."
UNCG was led by Amanda Leigh who scored 15 points, all of them on three pointers. She was five of nine from behind the arc. Center Agne Girstautaite also reached double figures with 10 points, but the Spartans were simply no match for the Buckeyes. Agee was thankful that Foster substituted at games end and didn't embarrass her team.
"He didn't do that and I appreciate that," said Agee. "We tried hard to compete."
The Buckeyes outrebounded UNCG 43-29 and blocked five shots. OSU also registered 22 assists on 26 made baskets. It was the unselfish team play of the Buckeyes that brought the biggest smile to the face of Jim Foster.
"At the end of the game we had Aleksandra in the game (freshman center Aleksandra Dobranic). She is a very popular player on the team and our kids were doing everything they could to get a basket for her. What impressed me was that they got the ball to her down low where she could score, and she would pass it to a teammate who she thought had a better shot."
Dobranic finally did score on a feed from senior Cherise Daniels, her first points as a Buckeye, and the OSU bench erupted.
Game Notes:
* Junior center Jantel Lavender scored 20 or more points for the 39th time in her career. She ended the game with 27 points (7 rebounds). She has now scored in double-figures in all 72 career games - the longest active streak in Division I.
* For the second time this season and second of her career, sophomore guard Samantha Prahalis recorded a double-double on 13 points and 11 assists. Her first career double-double was against WVU with 14 points and 12 assists Nov. 19, 2009. Prahalis dished out 10 or more assists for the third time in her career.
* Ohio State scored 31 points off 21 UNC Greensboro turnovers.
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