[81alum]

The tallest starter for OSU is on 6 feet 0 inches, which probably explains a number of things. 

When Tara talked to us after the home game she pointed out that OSU had a 6'7" player defending Nneka.  That would have been Thais Pinto, who as you say is not a starter.  She was last year's top junior college center with a 68% FG%, and was a member of the Brazilian national team in 2006--that is quite a few years ago, I'm not sure the story behind her.  In the first game she played 17 minutes and was 2-2 with 3 rebounds--not sure why they did not use her more--Tara clearly thought she hampered Nneka.   

I think Thais plays behind Patricia Bright, who is a starter and is 6'4".  Bright played 22 minutes in the first game and fouled out.  She was 2-5 with just 4 rebounds.  OSU does, then, have a couple of tall players that helped reduce Nneka's efficiency (she was 11-29), but they were not effective on offense and rebounded relatively poorly.

Offensively, OSU killed us with dribble-drives off screens by their three guards: Ali Gibson, Earlysia Marchbanks, and Alyssa Martin.  Those three accounted for 40 points and every one of them shot 50% for the game.  Those three are all 5'11" or 6', which is quite reasonable for guards.

I would guess that OSU will have something new to show us so the second game may not look much like the first game.  But I thought after the first game that we would likely lose in Corvallis unless we 1) started sinking more 3s and 2) figured out how to defend the dribble-drive a whole lot better.

Where I think we have an edge compared with the last game is Chiney's improvement.  Chiney had 20 points on 8-17 shooting with 10 rebounds, and she has been even more effective since then.  I would love to see Taylor come out and nail a couple of 3s to give OSU something to think about.  And Joslyn has come on since that game, so I will hope for her to have an excellent performance against a much shorter defender at the 3.  While OSU does have a couple of taller players, they won't be able to use them guarding the 3 position.

[81alum]

The tallest starter for OSU is on 6 feet 0 inches, which probably explains a number of things. 

When Tara talked to us after the home game she pointed out that OSU had a 6'7" player defending Nneka.  That would have been Thais Pinto, who as you say is not a starter.  She was last year's top junior college center with a 68% FG%, and was a member of the Brazilian national team in 2006--that is quite a few years ago, I'm not sure the story behind her.  In the first game she played 17 minutes and was 2-2 with 3 rebounds--not sure why they did not use her more--Tara clearly thought she hampered Nneka.   

I think Thais plays behind Patricia Bright, who is a starter and is 6'4".  Bright played 22 minutes in the first game and fouled out.  She was 2-5 with just 4 rebounds.  OSU does, then, have a couple of tall players that helped reduce Nneka's efficiency (she was 11-29), but they were not effective on offense and rebounded relatively poorly.

Offensively, OSU killed us with dribble-drives off screens by their three guards: Ali Gibson, Earlysia Marchbanks, and Alyssa Martin.  Those three accounted for 40 points and every one of them shot 50% for the game.  Those three are all 5'11" or 6', which is quite reasonable for guards.

I would guess that OSU will have something new to show us so the second game may not look much like the first game.  But I thought after the first game that we would likely lose in Corvallis unless we 1) started sinking more 3s and 2) figured out how to defend the dribble-drive a whole lot better.

Where I think we have an edge compared with the last game is Chiney's improvement.  Chiney had 20 points on 8-17 shooting with 10 rebounds, and she has been even more effective since then.  I would love to see Taylor come out and nail a couple of 3s to give OSU something to think about.  And Joslyn has come on since that game, so I will hope for her to have an excellent performance against a much shorter defender at the 3.  While OSU does have a couple of taller players, they won't be able to use them guarding the 3 position.