If President Bush wants to find a weapon of mass destruction, Dick, Donald, or Condoleeza might want to tell him to take a look here in Columbus. Caity Matter exploded for 28 points – a new career high – as Ohio State (14-8, 6-5 Big Ten) defeated the No. 10 Minnesota Golden Gophers 75-57 last night at the Schottenstein Center.
Minnesota never stood a chance as Matter got off to a scintillating start, going 10-for-12 in the first half while also putting away four three-pointers for a first half total of 24.
“I took good shots,” Matter said. “The team was getting me the ball in the right places, and I was smart with the shots I was taking.”
OSU coach Jim Foster was obviously happy with Matter’s performance.
“Caity Matter continues to improve as a basketball player,” he said. “She’s a multiple-dimensional player instead of a one-dimensional player.”
The Gophers struggled with shooting early on going 7-for-26 in the first half.
“We just didn’t show up to play tonight in the first half,” Minnesota coach Pam Borton said. “I thought every single one of our turnovers turned into a fast break for them.”
OSU ran with the ball considerably last night, tallying 15 fast break points, while Minnesota could only muster two.
During the first half, the Buckeyes went on a 12-0 run which effectively ended the competitive portion of the game.
“We were just in to the game,” Matter said. “There was a good intensity on the floor, and we got on a little bit of a roll. It was nice to get a lead.”
The Buckeyes also excelled down low with LaToya Turner scoring 12 points, and freshman Jessica Davenport adding 13.
It seemed nothing went right for the Gophers, as their leading scorer and two-time All-American Lindsay Whalen didn’t return after halftime because she injured her right hand in a collision with Turner. She will be evaluated today in Minneapolis.
“I think it really took a toll on us when she went out in the first half,” Borton said. “But I give my team a lot of credit for coming out and playing hard in the second half and holding ourselves together without (Whalen).”
Matter was also cognizant of Whalen’s loss.
“She’s an All-American. But anytime you have someone like that out of the game, it’s obviously going to hurt your team. (Whalen) makes everybody better,” she said.
The Buckeyes won on the boards 34-28, as Turner led the Buckeyes with nine. Kim Wilburn, Matter and Davenport all pulled down seven apiece.
Enigmatic sophomore point guard Wilburn had a good night as she had five points, seven rebounds, four steals, led the team with five assists and didn’t turn the ball over.
“I had to take a step up to be the point guard this team needed and when you have people expecting things out of you, you have to step up,” Wilburn said.
Wilburn was the first player Foster credited after the game despite Matter’s numbers.
“I think anytime you look down and have a point guard that has no turnovers you know that they did a good job,” he said. “(Wilburn) did a much better job of keeping her dribble alive.”
The second half was a mere formality with the lead getting as large as 28.
“I think we showed a lot of maturity and a lot of growth,” Wilburn said.
This is OSU’s fourth win in five games and its third game in row against Minnesota that the Buckeyes have won.
The game was watched by 3,142 people including members of the OSU football team and coach Jim Tressel.
