The winningest coach in OSU women’s basketball history, who guided seven OSU teams to the NCAA tournament is no longer a Buckeye.’It was a coaching decision,’ said Andy Geiger, director of athletics. ‘We are leaders in women’s athletics and we will continue to be. We hire people and we expect people to do the job. If people don’t do the job, we make the change.’Nancy Darsch’s fate was sealed Monday by Geiger at a press conference at St. John Arena.Darsch, 45, was released after compiling a 234-125 record overall and a 134-76 mark in the Big Ten over 12 years.Player reaction to the change was limited.’We have to get used to a new coach so that’s going to be another adjustment for next year. So hopefully we can have a good season with getting used to a new coach,’ sophomore forward Larecha Jones said. ‘That’s a part of starting over so it should be interesting.’This year, the Lady Buckeyes were 12-16 overall with a 3-13 record in conference play.’They simply didn’t meet the goals and we think that it is time to move on and move forward with an aggressive search and a new look for our basketball team,’ Geiger said.Finishing in the top half of the conference and making the NCAA tournament were two goals that the team had set to accomplish, Geiger said. In 1993, Darsch led the Buckeyes all the way to the title game of the national tournament before losing to Texas Tech, 84-82.Despite a recruiting class in 1993 which many called the best in the nation, Darsch was frequently criticized for failing to recruit the top talent in the state of Ohio.Coordinator for the Columbus chapter of National Organization for Women expressed concern over Monday’s events.’It shows a definite pattern of firing women and minorities,’ said Patricia Varieur, coordinator.Darsch’s winning percentage and the 1993 title game against Texas Tech were signs of her success, Varieur said.OSU has recently drawn fire from the chapter because of a lawsuit brought by former OSU coach Karen Weaver.Weaver, who coached field hockey, contends that she was fired last fall because she is a lesbian and that she complained of poor playing surfaces the team was practicing on. However, OSU sited a poor relationship with players as the reason for her release. Weaver said Darsch’s release points to problems in the athletic system.’Ohio State has again shown itself to hold women coaches to a different standard than men,’ Weaver said.No one has been contacted to replace Darsch, Geiger said.’I will be assisted by members of the staff, most especially Miechelle Willis, associate athletics director, and I will be contacting all kinds of people in the next few days,’ Geiger said.