Women's Basketball
Buckeyes Pull Out Ugly Win in Ugly Game
By John Porentas

OSU Head Coach Jim Foster thinks that the ability to win the ugly game is what separates good teams from average teams.

"When you're making shots and the game's in a flow and it's real easy, basketball is an easy game to play. The character of your team gets determined when it's not working, when you discombobulated and it's not there," said Foster.

That, to a tee, described the game at Value City Arena on Thursday. Foster's Buckeyes (14-3, 5-1 Big Ten) and visiting Illinois (11-6, 3-3 Big Ten) combined to produce a game that was about as ugly as mud on a fencepost. When the final seconds ticked off the clock, Foster was smiling despite having witnessed a game that actually hurt your eyes to watch. That's because the Buckeyes took the a game that was the mother of all ugly games by a final of 43-42.

Just for the record, that's not the half time score, that's the final - 43-42.

The Buckeyes managed a grand total of five field goals in the first half on ugly-esque five of 23 shooting. Just for good measure, OSU added nine first half turnovers to their poor shooting. The Buckeyes managed to get to the free throw line 10 time and made seven of them. Those free throws, combined with some nearly as ugly play by Illinois, allowed OSU to go to the break trailing by just five at 22-17.

Illinois led virtually the entire second half, by as many as seven on two occasions, but could not pull away and put the Buckeyes down for the count. What ultimately killed the Illini, and saved the Buckeyes, was the kind of scoring drought that makes coaches pull out their hair.

Illinois went up by seven points with 4:56 remaining in the game when Jenna Smith made a layup to make the score 42-35. Smith's bucket would be her team's last points of the night. Illinois turned the ball over on four-consecutive possessions and missed three shots over the last 4:56. The horrendous play down the stretch by the Illini left the wide open door to a Buckeye win. In keeping with the spirit of the game, however, Buckeyes didn't exactly bolt through the open door. Actually, they kind of tip-toed through it.

OSU freshman center Jantel Lavender scored to cut the Illinois lead to just five with 4:41 remaining. The Buckeyes then went on a scoring draught of their own.

OSU went three minutes and 23 seconds before scoring another point, but when they did finally get a bucket, it was a big one. OSU guard Marscilla Packer made her first field goal of the night with a three pointer with 1:19 remaining to cut the lead to 42-40. The Illini then misfired on a three at the other end, and OSU had a chance despite their bad play the entire game.

The Buckeyes got the ball down low to Andrea Walker who, in keeping with the spirit of the game, promptly missed a layup with 25 seconds remaining, but the rebound went off the hands of the Illini and out of bound to give OSU a second chance.

OSU inbounded the basketball following a time out with 14 seconds remaining. The Buckeyes were looking for a shot for Packer, but the Illini closed down on the OSU shooting ace, so Packer dished off to Maria Moeller in the corner just outside the three point line. Moeller never hesitated and fired up a three pointer that found nothing but net to give OSU it's first lead of the second half at 43-42 with 14 seconds remaining.

It was Moeller's first, last, and only shot of the game.

"Moeller stepped in and hit probably the shot of her life," said Illinois Head Coach Jolette Law.

"I just trust my teammates," said Packer who was the first shooting option on the play but ended up getting the assist by getting the ball to Moeller. "I feel like if they can get a better shot why not get the ball to them. That's what happened tonight, we just trust each other.

"I drove left and saw how they were going to play me and when they (the Illinois defense) went with me I just kicked it to Maria and she hit a wide open shot."

The Illini were able to advance the ball across the time line and call time out with six seconds remaining. In a game of sloppy plays, that time out proved to be perhaps the most ill-advised play.

The time out forced the Illini to inbound the basketball, and when they did, the Buckeyes were ready...to foul. The Buckeyes had just one personal foul in the second half and therefore had five fouls to give.

The Illini inbounded the ball four times in the last six seconds, and the first three times the Buckeyes allowed about a second and half to come off the clock and then foul. On Illinois' last inbound, Packer managed a steal to end the game after Andrea Walker overwhelmed an Illini player in the corner as the clock wound down.

"Andrea Walker made a great play at the end of the game," said OSU Head Coach Jim Foster. "We were taking the fouls and their guard deviated, went to the corner, and our guard got hung up. Andrea didn't even think. She just released from her post position and went out and smothered the shooter and that was the game."

"If Andrea had not made that decision their best shooter would have had a wide open three."

"They (Ohio State) played extremely hard in the last couple of possessions and got a key rebound, " said Law. "They executed when they needed to."

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