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Game Five - Ohio State vs. Penn State
March 3, 2006
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery
Ohio State ups its Big Ten Tournament record to 16-11 with its victory, while Penn State fell to 19-10 in the conference tournament. Penn State fell to 9-1 in quarterfinals action, while OSU advances to its seventh semifinal, and improves to 7-5 in quarterfinal action at the Big Ten Tournament. The meeting between Penn State and Ohio State in the quarterfinals marked the seventh time the two squads have met in the Big Ten Tournament. That total is the most meetings between any two schools at the event. Penn State holds a 4-3 advantage in those contests. Ohio State won its fourth straight game against the Lady Lions, including both regular season games this season. PSU still leads the all-time series 30-12. With Ohio State's victory, No. 1 seeds are 6-1 all-time against No. 8 seeds and 11-1 in quarterfinal action overall. The only time a No. 1 failed to reach the semifinals was in 1997 when then-No. 8 Indiana knocked off then-No. 1 Purdue, 61-54. The meeting between the Lady Lions and Buckeyes was the third time the two teams have faced off in the quarterfinals. OSU's victory was its first over Penn State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament. Then-No. 1 Penn State defeated then-No. 9 Ohio State, 64-48, at the 2000 tournament, and then-No. 2 Lady Lions defeated then-No. 7 OSU, 70-55, in the quarterfinals of the 2002 tournament. Penn State's Brianne O'Rourke moved into seventh on the Lady Lion single-season freshman steals list with her one steal against the Buckeyes today. She had two steals on Thursday, March 2, against Wisconsin to pull even with Susan Robinson (1988-89) for seventh. O'Rourke finished with 56 steals during her rookie campaign. Ohio State's Kim Wiburn jumped to seventh on the Big Ten Tournament career assist list with 38. She entered the tournament in a tie for ninth, but moved past Jamie Lewis of Ohio State (1998-01) and Erika Valek of Purdue (2001-04), who were tied for seventh with 37. She trails sixth-place Jess Strom of Penn State (2002-05) by two assists and all-time leader Helen Darling of Penn State (1997-00) by 26.
Wilburn also moved into a tie for second on the Big Ten Tournament career steals list with her two swipes against Penn State. The two steals pushed her career total to 25, and ties her with Helen Darling of Penn State (1997-00) and Michelle Duhart of Purdue (1997-00). She trails the all-time leader, Katie Douglas of Purdue (1998-01), by a single steal for the Big Ten tournament career record of 26. Two-time Big Ten Player of the Year Jessica Davenport scored six points in the Buckeyes' victory over Penn State. It snapped a 46-game double-figure scoring streak that dated back to the 2004-05 season. The last time she failed to score in double digits was against Liberty on Jan. 9, 2005 when she had six points. Penn State finished the game 14-of-15 from the free-throw line, which equates to 93.3 percent. That percentage ties for the seventh best single-game total in Big Ten Tournament history. Purdue was the last team to shoot better in a game from the charity stripe, connecting on all 14 attempts on March 4, 2005 against Minnesota. In their two games at the Big Ten Tournament, the Lady Lions combined to shoot 37-of-45 (82.2 percent) from the free-throw line. The number ranks seventh all-time on the single tournament record list. PSU and Michigan were the last teams to shoot better from the free-throw line in tournament action. Michigan State shot the second-best percent of 88.2 (30-of-34), and Penn State hit at an 83-percent (39-of-47) clip. Both those percentages came during the 2004 tournament. Ohio State turned the ball over only nine times against Penn State. The nine turnovers ties for the 10th fewest in Big Ten Tournament history. OSU's nine miscues also ties the season-low for the Buckeyes. Penn State was held to just 46 points against Ohio State. The 46-point total was the lowest scored by a Lady Lion team at the Big Ten Tournament. PSU's previous low mark was 49 against Purdue in the 1998 finals. Ohio State is 26-0 when scoring 60 or more points. Buckeye fourth-year head coach Jim Foster recorded his 99th win at Ohio State against the Lady Lions in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals. Foster will have a chance to reach his 100th win with the Scarlet and Gray Sunday in the semifinals. With the win, Ohio State matches its second-longest winning streak in school history. The Buckeyes have won 17 consecutive contests, which the squad also did 30 years ago during the 1975-76 season. The longest winning streak in school history is 20 games, which was set during the 1984-85 year. Foster is 5-3 in Big Ten Tournament games while Penn State head coach Rene Portland is 19-10. Penn State connected on 15-of-39 from the field against Ohio State. The 15 made field goals was a season-low. The previous low mark was 17 against Duke on Nov. 18, 2005. |
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