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(24) Auburn UPSETS (15) Ohio State
by Kel Kyle, SECWB.com
Posted: November 25th, 2007 @ 2:53pm
Source: View Box Score
Talk about an embarrassment of riches, last Monday, the Auburn Lady Tigers' week began with bang as they earned an AP ranking for the first time since the 2003-04 season. Follow that by Alli Smalley being named SEC Freshman of the Week and they had just come off their third win in a row of the season. How much better could it get? A LOT!
After defeating the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland on Wednesday (71-55), Nell Fortner's team took some time to eat turkey, grab a bit of rest and headed out to Columbus, Ohio for the Klosterman Buckeye Classic. In their first game, they defaced the Winston-Salem Rams 70-37 and moved onto the championship round against Ohio State.
OSU entered tonight's contest 5-0 with a 20-33 lifetime against SEC teams. It was the first meeting for both teams and the Lady Tigers were about to face their fiercest competition this season.
A trio of Lady Tigers scored in double figures -- Sherell Hobbs scored 21 points, Whitney Boddie with 20 and DeWanna Bonner tossed in 16 as the Tigers chewed up the Buckeyes 67-58, winning the Buckeye Classic. Shooting 56.3 percent from the field (18-32) in the first half, Hobbs scored 13 points helping to build a 16 point lead over OSU. The Buckeyes closed the gap to within ten as the Tigers led 40-30 at the half. In the second half, OSU's Jantel Lavender scored 16 and the Buckeyes narrowed the lead to eight (63-55) with less than four minutes to play. But that was as close as OSU would get.
The proverbial nail in the coffin was Auburn's ability to hold OSU from scoring any 3-pointers (0-10); something that hasn't happened since OSU beat Kentucky last January. Add to that 14 Buckeye turnovers to which the Lady Tigers turned into 23 points and the rest as they say is history. This is a loss OSU will not forget easily as it marks the first time since 1991 that they've been defeated in their own tournament. The last team to take them down was Penn State by a score of 79-73.
COACH QUOTES:
On the game overall ...
Jim Foster, Ohio State head coach: "Their guards hurt us and they also hurt us on the boards. In the first half, we just didn’t work hard enough. As far as the second half is concerned, there were some freshmen mistakes. Offensively, we needed to make shots but couldn’t. Auburn is a good team. They played tough on the perimeter and prevented us from making shots. Now, looking back, there are some things that we could have done differently like setting the ball up better. It is just something we need to work on in practice."
Nell Fortner, Auburn University head coach: "This was a great win for us since we’ve already broken into the top 25. Our players gave tremendous effort. I’m proud of how far we’ve come and where we’re headed."
BUCKEYE CLASSIC ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
- Whitney Boddie - Auburn
- Sherell Hobbs - Auburn
- DeWanna Bonner - Auburn
- Jantel Lavender - Ohio State
- Caitlin Gillard - Colgate
- Keoshia Worthy - Winston-Salem State
Tournament MVP: Whitney Boddie - Auburn
TRIVIA:
Question: What SEC team has OSU played the most?
Answer below.
UP NEXT:
Friday, November 30, Auburn takes on the UC Riverside Highlanders at the Arizona State Tournament. Game time is set for 10 p.m. EST.
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Trivia Answer: Kentucky. OSU maintains the lead 13-10. The next highest number of games against any SEC opponent is the Lady Vols of Tennessee where OSU trails 1-8.
