Beth Burns' second year at OSU was one big rollercoaster ride. The Buckeyes rode the crest of a season-opening victory at Penn State to a 5-0 league mark. But major struggles hit them as they lost six of their final nine league games to finish about where they were expected to.

Burns is first of all a defensive coach. Her teams feature a pressing, aggressive defense and this team was no exception. The Buckeyes may have been beaten but they were never outworked. Still, their defense was not consistent. They were the smallest team in the league and lacked depth so the defense played off emotion -- and it was difficult to generate that emotion on the road. The result was some weak defensive efforts away from home and a five-game league losing streak to finish the season.  They also were undersized in the post, and were sometimes torched by opposing post players.

The Buckeyes needed their defense to be overwhelming as their rebounding was underwhelming and their offense barely whelming. Burns benched her top returning scorer, Larecha Jones for lax defense. That left the post play in the hands of 5-11, very hobbled, Marrita Porter. Porter, who was named all league after the season, inspired her team and led it in scoring and rebounding.

But scoring was very much an issue. Freshman Lauren Shenk was the only player who had the ability to score from the outside and she was as erratic as freshman usually are. As a result, despite Porter and an above average point guard in Jamie Lewis, OSU finished eighth in the league in scoring and tied for last in rebounding.

But Burns showed again she has the capacity to get her team ready to play a game. She go the Buckeyes to an emotional peak, but they were not able to muster the emotion they needed to play with consistency for 16 games.

 

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