College basketball

Double dribble: Women

By ANTONYA ENGLISH
Published February 12, 2005

COMING OUT PARTY

The theme all season has been a celebration of 40 years of women's basketball at Ohio State. And what a party it has become.

Led by third-year coach Jim Foster, Ohio State is 23-2 and ranked No. 2, the program's highest ever.

The Buckeyes are 15-0 at home, and their 23 wins are the most since the 1992-93 team went 28-4. They are on a 12-game winning streak.

Thursday, Ohio State defeated Michigan 72-39; blowouts are becoming commonplace. Its margin of victory in Big Ten play is plus-23.4.

The Buckeyes are led by sophomore center Jessica Davenport, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association player of the month for January and Big Ten player of the week three times last month. She has seven double doubles this season and is averaging 18.5 points and 8.7 rebounds. But what has made Foster most proud is the unselfish nature of this squad. Ohio State leads the Big Ten in assist-to-turnover ratio (plus-1.32) and turnover margin (plus-3.67). Senior guard Ashley Allen, junior guard Kim Wilburn and sophomore guard Brandie Hoskins are Nos. 1, 3 and 5, respectively, in assist-to-turnover ratio in the league. Wilburn is also only the fifth player in Ohio State history to register at least 400 assists, with 404.

"We've been headed in this direction since we got here two years ago," Foster said of his team's willingness to play unselfishly. "Philosophically, we've been able to expand our defense to not just be a zone team or a junk team. On the offensive end we've always had to share the ball, but we're probably better at it this year. In the time we've been here, we've had five players play the point guard position. And when you have five players comfortable initiating the offense, it bodes well for unselfish play."

In the midst of the good times, the Buckeyes are dealing with another issue that surfaced this week. The school is investigating allegations that a booster provided free dental work to team members, including two current players. Athletic director Andy Geiger said that no current players are in danger of being declared ineligible and that an investigation is under way into whether NCAA rules were violated.

713,907 - Fans who have attended 183 Big Ten games (as of the beginning of the week), more than 53,000 more than last season's record attendance.

15,233 - Fans at Maravich Assembly Center, the largest crowd in LSU women's history, for a 68-58 win over Tennessee on Thursday night.

42 - Regular-season SEC games in a row won by Tennessee before the loss to LSU.

7 - Double doubles by FAMU forward/center Ariel Towns in the past eight games. Towns averaged 19 points and 14 rebounds in two wins last week, including a 24-point, 17-rebound effort against Howard, earning her the MEAC player of the week honors.

2 - Freshmen averaging double figures for Wisconsin, the only team in the Big Ten with that distinction. Jolene Anderson is the team's leading scorer with 18 points per game, and Janese Banks is averaging 10.3. Twice this season Anderson has scored 29.

Imagine having to wear a shoe that's 11/2 sizes too big. Then imagine what it would be like to have to play basketball in those shoes.

Welcome to Monique Currie's world.

Duke's junior guard/forward is playing with stress fractures in her left foot and has been fitted with special orthotics for her shoe that allow her to play virtually pain-free.

But getting used to the extra-large shoes is another story.

"She said the orthotic we had made for her was very helpful, her foot didn't hurt at all while she played. It's just getting used to it," coach Gail Goestenkors said. "Normally she's a size 10, and the shoe that she now has to wear is an 111/2 because of everything that's going inside the shoe, so it's a totally different feel for her. And the orthotic is very hard, so it takes some time I think for your foot to adjust."

Currie is taking it all in stride.

"It's a little uncomfortable," she said. "I can't run like I normally run, but for what it is it was relatively fine for the game."

In anticipation of March Madness, ESPN is bringing us "February Frenzy," eight games on Sunday involving 11 ranked teams. Our best bets:

No. 3 Duke at No. 19 Maryland, 3 p.m., ESPN2. It's an ACC battle with Duke coach Gail Goestenkors going for win No. 150. Maryland is on a four-game winning streak since losing to Duke by three Jan. 27.

No. 10 Connecticut at No. 11 Rutgers, 5 p.m., ESPN2. Another rematch; the Huskies defeated Rutgers 57-44 on Feb. 3. UConn has sole possession of first in the Big East, but a Rutgers victory would keep it in the title hunt mix with UConn and Notre Dame.

"We just couldn't generate the points inside. If you just look at the numbers - Shyra Ely was 2-for-12, (Tye'sha) Fluker was 3-for-8, (Nicky) Anosike was 0-for-5 and (Sidney) Spencer was 0-for-4; how do you win a basketball game? We just didn't generate any points at all."

[Last modified February 12, 2005, 00:25:13]