Women's Basketball
Late Stanford Surge Too Much for Buckeyes
By John PorentasStanford use an 18-4 run over the last 5:39 to turn a four point game into a comfortable 84-66 win and eliminate the Buckeyes in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA tournament. Stanford advances to face Iowa State in the round of eight for the right to move on to the Final Four.
The game was highlighted by a battle of premier post players. Stanford Junior Jayne Appel scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to out duel OSU sophomore Jantel Lavender who managed 15 points and six rebounds. Lavender, who rarely left the floor this season, spent large portions of the game on the bench with foul problems and logged 28 of a possible 40 minutes.
"I got some early fouls, and I couldn't be as physical as I wanted to be. It was frustrating, not being able to be physical," said Lavender.
Lavender left the game with her second foul with 5:22 remaining in the first half and the Buckeyes trailing by six. With Lavender on the bench OSU got a lift from subs Andrea Walker and Sarah Schultze and actually cut the Stanford lead to just two at 37-35 at the half. The feat was made even more remarkable by the fact that freshman point guard Samantha Prahalis also picked up two fouls in the first half and went to the bench with 3:36 left to play.
The first half was marked by five ties and 11 lead changes and the teams were very closely matched despite the foul trouble for Lavender and Prahalis. In the second half however, OSU never lead and behind the strong play of their post players Stanford threatened to blow the game open several times. They lead by 11 with about eight minutes gone, but the Buckeye would not go away.
Despite the fact that Lavender sat for over six minutes in the scond half after picking up her fourth foul OSU clawed its way back into the game, eventually trimming the Stanford lead to just four at 66-62 with 5:39 remaining to play. The Cardinals, however, then put on their stretch run to seal the win. Appel scored down low on three straight possessions to make the score 72-62 as Lavender was unable to contest her due to her foul situation.
"I thought the difference was Jayne in the second half," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "We went to her, and she delivered. She struggled a little bit in the first half, didn't finish some shots that she normally does. In the second half, she really showed great confidence, great poise, and just put the team on her back."
"I came out after halftime, and I believe every person on the team said something to me or gave me a high-five," Appel said. "I had to keep playing for them."
"When (Appel) gets deep, she's very effective," Lavender said.
Prahalis was OSU's leading scorer with 19 points but seemed to lose her shooting touch in the second half. She ended the game eight of 18 from the field including 0-3 from three. Her six assists were a team high, but she also had a team high six turnovers.
The Buckeyes got a lift from forward Sarah Schultze who came off the bench to score 12 points, but it wasn't enough to offset the lack of offensive production from the other Buckeye positions. Starters Brittany Johnson, Shavelle Little, Star Allen and key sub Ashley Trebilcock have averaged a combined 24 points per game this season, but accounted for just nine against Stanford. Allen netted seven, Little two, while Johnson and Trebilcock went scoreless.
OSU made just three of 10 three point attempts. Stanford dominated on the glass, winning the battle of the boards by a 42-32 margin.
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