Ohio State "bucks" doubters while beating Gophers

BY MIKE PEDEN

Ohio State can almost always count on momentum when Minnesota is up on their schedule, they led the all-time series 49-10 heading in to Sunday's game at Williams Arena.

After a grueling duel, the Buckeyes chalked up win number 50 with an 83-76 victory, continuing their psychological stronghold over the Gophers.

"A lot of people were saying we are heartless when we're on the road," said Ohio State guard Tayler Hill. "We got up, we lost the lead, and then we came back."

Hill did not hesitate to respond to critics as Ohio State (15-9, 6-6) evened their conference record.

"It makes me want to kill every team we play. Any team, any player," she said.

"We're finding about our character right now. That is impacting us in a very positive way," said Ohio State head coach Jim Foster.

Senior center Jantel Lavender played her usual dominating game inside and finished with a game-high 29 points, adding nine rebounds. She became Ohio State's all-time leading scorer with a transition lay-up at the 16:28 mark in the second half, besting Katie Smith's record of 2,578 points.

To boot, Lavender broke the NCAA record for most consecutive games in double-figures, marking her 126th.

"It's a milestone in my career I won't ever forget. The reason I can score is because of my teammates and my coaches having in faith in me to be a go-to player," she said.

Although Lavender will not likely surpass Connecticut's Maya Moore for the all-time NCAA scoring record, she will present a challenge for any future Buckeye to break the school record with a few games left to pad her lead. Foster believes Lavender has not made her last collegiate impression.

"Someone that's scored double-figures every time she's walked on the court, when most defenses are working on stopping you, that speaks volumes," he said.

For most of the game, both teams essentially canceled each other out, with Minnesota (11-14, 3-9) out-rebounding Ohio State 40-32 while Ohio State forced 16 turnovers to Minnesota's seven.

While early nerves kept the Gophers from leading in the first half, they tied seven times with the Buckeyes, including the halftime break with the score 36-36.

Minnesota would tie two more times until a Jackie Voigt three-pointer gave the home team their first lead at 43-42 early in the second half, and that set the stage for a back-and-forth fight throughout the second.

Ohio State could not relax until the final minute, but the key moment was junior guard Samantha Prahalis draining a three-pointer to break a 71-71 tie with 2:18 left, bothering a young Minnesota team just enough to seal a win.

"In the last three minutes of the game, we did not have an answer for Tayler Hill penetrating to the basket," said Minnesota head coach Pam Borton.

Hill, the all-time leading high school scorer in Minnesota history, flashed a few moves she was known for while playing at Minneapolis South. Hill scored 19 points for the game and sank eight free throws in the final 3:07.

"We're one of the only teams on a daily basis that works on free throws," she said. "It was just like practice."

The stamina Hill developed playing almost every minute at South also proved useful, as she played all 40 minutes against Minnesota.

Although Hill can log large blocks of time, the adversity facing Ohio State this year is an obstacle she never faced at South, even as her high school rival, Minnesota guard Kiara Buford, won two state championships against Hill's old South team.

"In high school, I wasn't challenged every day. The competition wasn't there," she said. "In practice, there's drills we do called 'and two.' No breaks. Time and time up and down the court."

Buford led Minnesota in scoring with 23 points and made her last 10 free throws after missing her first four.

"I promised myself after that fourth one that I wasn't going to miss any more," she said.

Team chemistry is also no longer missing for the Gophers, even though expectations may not be high when the Big Ten tournament begins. That did not make Borton any less proud for her team's fight against the Buckeyes.

"We have figured out the ingredients to win basketball games," she said.

Antoine's day not enough to put Hoosiers away

BY MIKE PEDEN

The Minnesota Gopher women's basketball team went in to their Big Ten home opener with Indiana determined to improve their offense after putting up a dud in their loss to Illinois on Thursday.

The Gophers fixed those issues, but found new problems with their defense and top scorers as they dropped their home opener in overtime against the Hoosiers 80-79 Sunday at Williams Arena.

Gophers guard Kiara Buford made only one field goal in 13 tries, while sophomore guard Leah Cotton made two-of-six from the floor. Senior guard China Antoine posted a career-high 21 points and six steals, but did not score a point in the final 8:38 of the game.

"We've got to put our foot down and protect our home court," said Minnesota head coach Pam Borton, who watched a four-game home winning streak snap. "We missed breakaway lay-ups. We missed pull-up jumpers when we were wide open. We didn't finish around the rim."

Indiana (8-6, 2-0) refused to give in to the young Minnesota (8-7, 0-2) squad, finding an answer for every run Minnesota got. With 1:29 left in the game, senior forward Hope Elam tied the game at 70 with a three-pointer, part of a 12-2 run created by Indiana crashing the boards on offense for second-chance points.

"I told them not to worry about the score," said Indiana head coach Felisha Legette-Jack.

Sophomore forward Aulani Sinclair then had a chance to give Indiana their first lead of the second, but bricked a three from the corner. Minnesota guard Brianna Mastey got the rebound and was then fouled, making both her free throws with Minnesota in the double-bonus. Hoosier guard Jori Davis responded with a lay-up from the left side, tying up the score again with 29.4 seconds to go.

Mastey and Kristin Dockery missed two lay-up attempts, giving Indiana one more shot at a road victory, but they failed to find a target on the final possession of regulation. The Gophers did not score a field goal in the last six minutes of the second half.

The Gophers appeared to run on fumes in the extra stanza, although Borton attributed their late performance to growing more timid and not attacking the paint, where the Gophers outscored the Hoosiers 28-20. By the time Mastey sank a three-pointer, cutting a four-point Indiana lead to one, only one-tenth of a second was left, too late to salvage a win.

"We're not the most talented team in the Big Ten. We certainly aren't going to be the fastest or the tallest, but nobody's ever going to outwork us," Legette-Jack said.

No one better reflected their work ethic than Davis and Elam. Davis fell two points short of a career-high, scoring a game-high 31 points, including 10-of-12 from the free throw line. Elam finished with 23 points, sinking five of six three-point attempts and making all six free throws.

The loss overshadowed improved ball control, with Minnesota committing just 12 turnovers to Indiana's 20.

"We were trying to play a little too safe and not doing the things we were doing in the first half of the game," Antoine said.

Indiana's Georgie Jones, making her first visit to Minnesota since she helped St. Paul Central win the class AAAA state championship in 2008, fouled out with just two points from the free throw line. Buford, Jones' high school teammate at the time, coincidentally finished with the same total for Minnesota.

The Gophers return to Williams Wednesday night to host the Iowa Hawkeyes, who will come in with a lot of fire after losing their first two conference games of the season.