Women's Basketball
Big Second Half Lifts Buckeyes to Win in Big Ten Opener
By John PorentasOhio State Head Coach Jim Foster watched his team struggle in the first half against Wisconsin, so much so that the No. 3 Buckeyes (9-1, 1-0 Big Ten) trailed unranked Wisconsin (7-2, 0-1 Big Ten) 28-20 at the half. The Buckeyes had shot miserably (24.1 percent from the field, 16.7 percent from three) and had been outscored in the paint 16-12 despite the presence OSU of All-American center Jantel Lavender.
Under those circumstance a head coach might deliver a some fire and brimstone in the halftime locker room, and Foster has been known to do a little of that from time to time. Today, however, he took a very different approach.
"At half time the players had a discussion. I didn't go in for a while, because it was time for them to step up," said Foster.
"This team has had a leadership issue. I think it got determined at half time. Coaches can talk until they're blue in the face," Foster said.
Foster finally did go into the locker room, and his message was really pretty simple. The Buckeyes were not getting much offensive production because they weren't reversing the basketball, something he has preached since his arrival in Columbus. That was just about it. The rest of whatever was going to happen in the second half was determined by the closed-door session his team conducted. Turns out that Foster made a very good decision.
"We had to come to a consensus with each other about who we want to be and what we want to do in this season," said Lavender who ended up with a game-high 23 points and 10 rebounds.
In the second half the Buckeyes played with an intensity that has been missing from their game until now, and the results were good news for OSU and bad news for Wisconsin. OSU outscored the Badgers 50-27 in the second half and coasted home to what in the box score looked like an easy 70-55 win.
"Once everybody was on the same page and we had agreement across the table with the whole team. We knew that defense was where we could pick it up in the game," Lavender said.
"I think things got more intense and things just came together on what we want to be," added sophomore point guard Samantha Prahalis.
"I know we lost the other night (vs. Duke) but good teams, sometimes we need a wake up call. We determined what we want to be and we just came out more intense."
The result were obvious, particularly after they had fought back to tie the game and take a lead at about the 12 minute mark of the second half.
"They upped their intensity once they started inching into the lead then took the lead," said Wisconsin Head Coach Lisa Stone.
"They got to loose balls, they got to rebounds, they made some three point shots and it really opened some things up," Stone said.
Intensity explains the loose balls and rebounds, but the three point shooting goes back to that solitary point Foster made at the half. The Buckeyes began reversing the ball, and that made a huge difference for OSU on the offensive end in the second half.
"When you reverse the ball it opens up the floor so much and when you don't reverse the ball you're playing into their defense," said Lavender.
"That reversal just opens up everything on the floor."
Shots that had been contested in the first half were suddenly open shots in the second half. OSU's shooting improved from that miserable 24.1 percent in the first half to 48.3 percent in the second half. The biggest improvement however, came from three point range where the Buckeyes went from 1-6 n the first half to 7-13 (58.3 percent) in the second.
"Early in the second half we were trading baskets, but theirs were threes," said Stone.
"Taylor (Hill) hit a couple deep corner and that opened some things up," Stone said.
"They made some three point shots and it really opened some things up when Taylor Hill and Brittany Johnson are hitting some three and (Sarah) Schulze as well, that softens it inside and you've got to kind of pick your poison with this team."
The three point shooting forced Wisconsin to guard the perimeter which let Lavender score down low, and the OSU ball reversal helped make the three point shots open ones. It was too much for the Badgers who gave up 50 points in the second half after holding OSU to just 20 in the first period.
Buckeye Season Statistics to Date
Donate by Check :
Ozone Communications
1380 King Avenue
Columbus, OhioHelp us bring you more Buckeye coverage. Donate to the-Ozone.
Click here to email this the-Ozone feature to a friend...or even a foe.
Return to the-OZone Front Page
(c) 2009 The O-Zone, O-Zone Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, rebroadcast,rewritten, or redistributed.