Ohio State Gets Jump, Beats USC

Unfortunately for the USC women’s basketball team, the Buckeyes didn’t stop here Thursday night.

Ohio State never trailed in beating the Trojans, 74-63, in the semifinals of the NCAA West Regional at Pauley Pavilion.

The victory was Ohio State’s second of the season over USC and moved the Buckeyes one step closer to their first appearance in the NCAA women’s Final Four.

The 10th-ranked Buckeyes will meet fourth-ranked Cal State Long Beach, a 94-55 winner over Mississippi Thursday, in the regional final Saturday at 7 p.m.

USC, hoping to avenge a 20-point loss in the third-place game of the Orange Bowl Invitational last December at Miami, fell behind early and never recovered against the methodical Buckeyes.

“I think maybe we weren’t as relaxed as we should have been,” USC point guard Rhonda Windham said. “They jumped out on us early and we had wanted to jump out on them.”

Several Trojan players had the flu the last time they met Ohio State, and by the time this one ended, they were feeling a little under the weather, too.

After reaching the Final Four three times during Cheryl Miller’s four-year career, they hoped to do it without her this season.

Ohio State wouldn’t have it.

“They’re just very solid,” USC Coach Linda Sharp said of the Buckeyes. “They’re very poised, very consistent and they have good outside shooters.”

They also crash the boards.

Ohio State (26-4) scored its first six times down the floor, building a 12-4 lead that included six points that were scored after offensive rebounds.

“They just had more people going to the boards than we did,” Windham said.

A follow shot by Ohio State’s Lisa Cline made it 6-0, and Tracey Hall made two free throws after being fouled on a rebound to make it 10-2.

Another follow shot by Teresa Dombkowski made it 12-4 and the Big Ten champions increased their lead to 40-30 by halftime.

USC (22-8) eventually adjusted, but never got closer than four points until 6-6 center Monica Lamb made a turnaround jumper in the lane to make it 63-61 with 5:53 left.

When Ohio State’s Jodi Strine missed two free throws, USC had a chance to tie the game for the first time since the opening minute.

It got plenty of chances, too.

But the Trojans missed five shots on their next possession before Cherie Nelson fouled Strine while going for a rebound.

This time, Strine made two free throws and, after Lamb missed a short jumper, the Buckeyes’ Nikita Lowry made two more free throws to make it 67-61 with 4:17 left and the Trojans’ opportunity had passed.

“It seemed like we were trying to hurry up and score,” Sharp said. “We weren’t very poised after we had pulled to within two.”

It was still only a four-point game when Lamb, going up for a shot along the baseline, appeared to be fouled.

Lamb said she was hit on the hand.

No foul was called and USC never scored again.

Lamb’s shot went awry, flying crazily out of her hands in front of the basket, and Ohio State rebounded.

The Buckeyes went down and scored on a layup by Cline, who took a pretty bounce pass along the baseline from Geneva Sanford to make it 69-63 with 1:29 left.

In the last 54 seconds, Ohio State made 5 of 7 free throws.

“It just came down to rebounding,” Sharp said. “We just couldn’t get any second and third shots.”

Although USC had 13 offensive rebounds to Ohio State’s 15, it got four on the one possession after it pulled to within two points.

Overall, the Trojans were outrebounded, 41-33.

“It came down to our defensive effort, or lack of,” said Lamb, who had 21 points, making 10 of 15 shots, and 11 rebounds.

After shooting only 40% against the Buckeyes in Miami, USC improved this time, but only to 41.4%.

Ohio State, which got 15 points each from Hall and Dombkowski and 14 from Cline, shot 50.9%, making 62.5% (10 of 16) in the second half.

The Buckeyes got 41 points from its front line of Dombkowski, Hall and Strine, who scored 11, and Coach Nancy Darsch said: “Our post game has improved tremendously.”

Darsch said that Ohio State, which hasn’t lost a game this season in which it led at halftime, nearly squandered its 10-point halftime lead because USC’s press bothered the Buckeyes.

They handled it easily in the first half.

“It looked at times like our players didn’t want the ball,” she said, “and that’s what you want when you use a pressure defense.”

For the most part, the pressure in this game was felt by USC, which never recovered from Ohio State’s fast start.