Women's Basketball
Buckeyes Climb Back into Big Ten Title Hunt with Revenge over Boilermakers
By John Porentas

No. 20/22 Ohio State (19-6, 10-4 Big Ten) extracted a measure of revenge for an earlier loss by defeating visiting Purdue (14-12, 10-5 Big Ten) by a final of 72-56.

The Boilermakers were able to edge the Buckeyes 68-67 in West Lafayette just 11 days ago. OSU was unable to get up a shot on its final possession with 13 second remaining in taking the one-point loss. In that game, OSU freshman center Jantel Lavender scored 30 points, but a more balanced attack by Purdue led by point guard FahKara Malone's 23 points, combined with 14 Purdue offensive rebounds and just 12 Purdue turnovers, were the differences in the game.

Eleven days later, it was a much different story. This time around it was the Buckeyes who dominated the glass, outrebounding Purdue by a 36-25 margin, and perhaps more significantly, limiting the Boilermakers to just four offensive rebounds. Purdue once again got a balanced offensive attack, putting four players into double figures in scoring, but this time the Buckeyes were able to one-up them with all five of their starters hitting double figures. OSU's scoring was led by senior guard Marscilla Packer who netted 18 this time around after having been held to just three points in the first meeting at Purdue.

The Buckeyes were able to get to the free throw line 28 times but were miserable converting their opportunities, making just 13 (46.4 percent), but their 13 made free throws were 10 more than Purdue took and 11 more than the Boilermakers made. Eleven days ago, the Boilers went to the line 11 times and made seven, the Buckeyes went just five times and made but one free throw.

"I think it was a tale of two different games," said Purdue Head Coach Sharon Versyp.

"When we were at home we did what they did when they were at home.

"We got to the line, they didn't, offensive rebounding, we took care of the basketball. They did a great job on the boards offensively. Both teams shot 50 percent, but they were able to get more offensive boards than us," Versyp said.

The Boilers were able to slow down Lavender this time by paying more attention to her and limited her to 13 points, but the attention paid to Lavender opened things up for the other Buckeyes on the floor and it cost the Boilers.

"They guarded us differently," said OSU Head Coach Jim Foster.

"Jantel had 23 shots (in the first game) and they really single-covered her.

"Today they were trapping Jantel early and I think she made some great decisions that got us some terrific shots. I think our guards, because of that, were allowed to get into a comfort zone and a little rhythm and I think it helped them a lot."

"We tried to deny her away from the basket a little bit more," said Versyp.

"She didn't have a lot of face up shots like she did at home like she did the first time."

Purdue has played two games since their last meeting with OSU, one a loss at Michigan State and one a win over Iowa at home. The Buckeyes meanwhile played just one and then enjoyed a bye, giving them eight days off before the rematch with the Boilers. Versyp was sure that the bye was a big reason for the outcome of the rematch.

"Ohio State had eight days to prepare for us and they did a very good job," said Versyp.

"It's a huge edge if you have eight days and then you're at home," Versyp added.

Foster, however, said the Buckeyes didn't especially concentrate on the Boilers during that eight-day span, but instead worked on fundamentals, particularly defensive fundamentals, before turning their attention to Purdue.

"We only prepared for them for two days," said Foster.

"We gave them Monday off and then on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday we really had more October kind of practices than we did this time of season. We weren't preparing for an opponent. We went back to some fundamental things that we lost track of defensively and reminded our players of some things that they needed to be reminded of and I think they took it to heart," Foster said.

"Like he said, we only prepared for Purdue for two days," agreed Packer.

"We kept it just like we had a game this week."

Iowa currently leads the Big Ten at 11-4 with the Buckeyes a half game back at 10-4. The Hawkeyes will be in Columbus this weekend with the winner of that game claiming the league lead. Coming into the game with the Buckeyes the Boilermakers also had just four losses, but the loss to OSU drops them to third place in the Big Ten standings with five losses.

The winner of the OSU vs. Iowa game this weekend will be the lone team in the league with but four league losses and will have the inside track to the Big Ten championship. OSU will finish its regular-season schedule at Indiana, at Penn State and at home vs. Northwestern.

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