Feb. 6 Columbus State Sports

So I have been asked by a few folks to start putting on articles I do for Cougar News. I really haven't seen the need, but since our newspaper is now without a website and there is content I submit that doesn't make the newspaper, I now see the need. Enjoy this week's Cougar News Sports Section!

Cougars back on winning track

The Columbus State women’s basketball team got back on the winning track with a pair of wins last week at home. They defeated the Ohio Dominican non-starters followed by a hard fought 72-65 conference win against the Cuyahoga Challengers.

Columbus State would at times jump out to large leads against the Challengers. The Cougars had a 40-28 lead at halftime thanks to a large rebounding advantage and better shooting.
Columbus State would carry an 11 point lead into the final 8 minutes but Cuyahoga went on a 9-0 run to cut Columbus State’s lead down to 67-65. 13 second half points by Brenda Carter and a solid performance by Molly Dinneen led to the victory.

Cuyahoga only dressed seven players and had four Challengers playing over 30 minutes in the game. The Challengers came into the week with only one conference victory. Cuyahoga almost pulled off an upset at the very beginning of conference season in December. Columbus State won that game 70-69.

“They hustled and they’re scrappy,” Cougar center Kerri Imwalle said. “We out rebounded them and dug down to deeper and found a way to win.”

The Cougars were in the midst of playing four games in seven days. A tough stretch especially considering Columbus State is in the final month of the regular season.

“We want to win, make it to the tournament and I think we’re getting tired but I think the outcome and the reward is bigger,” Carter said on the stretch.

Columbus State head coach Randy Crites agreed that there are challenges playing a tough stretch, but said there are benefits as well.

“I think at this time of the year, you would probably rather have the rest,” he said. “The game Monday (against ODU) was a good –fast paced ballgame; as good as a practice.”

The team will try to continue their winning ways at home with a home match against the Lakeland Lakers tonight followed by a critical road game Saturday in Toledo against Owens. Columbus State protects home court well. They’re 6-1 home this season. Dating back to December of last year, they’re 16-1 in Delaware Hall and in that stretch is 10-1 in conference matches.

“We have to make sure we get past Lakeland and then we really have to be prepared to go to Owens,” Crites said. “Going to Owens is really going to be big to us right now. You can see, if you look at some of the other scores when (conference leading) Sinclair goes there, they get beat by 31. That’s a hard place to play.”

Columbus State is also on the recruiting trail. At last week’s game against Cuyahoga, they had possible recruits watching on. Several of those are from Columbus’ Independence High School.
Chenae White and Amanda Odom are high school seniors looking at Columbus State. Both have applied to the college and are looking to join the 2008-09 team. Independence is known as a local women’s basketball powerhouse. Former Ohio State and current center for the New York Liberty Jessica Davenport as well as current Buckeye Star Allen are both graduates of Independence.

“They (the coaches) seem very nice and caring and take care of the team,” White said. “They keep saying how different it is playing from high school to college and I can see that right now."

Odom said that she has had various four year college’s offering a spot on their team, but one factor in her decision is those schools do not offer scholarships.

They can officially sign with the team in April.

Cougars’ conference losing streak continues

A field goal here, rebound there, a defensive stop to boot – that is how close the Columbus State men’s basketball team is from being contenders in the OCCAC. Instead they are in seventh place far removed from conference leading Cincinnati State. At 3-6 in conference, the recent stretch has been disappointing for the Cougars as they lost three in a row in OCCAC action.

Last Wednesday, Columbus State hosted the Cuyahoga Challengers. For most of the game, it was very close. The game was tied at 38 at halftime. Many lead changes. In the second half with the game tied at 64, the Challengers would go on a14-3 run to create some separation. Columbus State would try to claw their way back into the game. They got the ball back down five with 40 seconds left. The Cougars would attempt to get the ball into the paint to cut Cuyahoga’s lead to three, but the ball went out of bounds, and once against Columbus State losses a heartbreaker. 99-88 was the final. Cuyahoga was tough to stop from outside the three point line shooting 64%. Also they forced Columbus State to commit 18 turnovers in the fast paced game.

“We struggled in close games,” Columbus State coach Michael Walker said. “It could be anything - a turnover or rebound or anything like that... It is the small things that make the close games.”

Columbus State did many little things right in the game. They out rebounded Cuyahoga 37-34 and Columbus State also shot well from the free throw line making over 80% of their attempts.

“I defiantly thought we were the better team,” Columbus State’s Mariano Bowles said. “They put the pressure on us and I feel my teammates and myself didn’t execute in the end. When they put the pressure on us, we choked up.”

The season is far from over for Columbus State as they have plenty of time to improve on their record and seeding heading into the post-season. Columbus State hosts Lakeland tonight at 7 p.m. in Delaware Hall followed by a trip to Toledo Saturday to play Owens. The Cougars beat Lakeland on the road in December by seven. Columbus State could be out for redemption against Owens as the Express defeated Columbus State with a shot at the buzzer on Jan. 12.

“We are in shape, in good shape,” Cougar Raylon Almon said. “We just have to play with our heads. It is not so much our legs, it is our mental game and we’re not playing smart.”

Jackets lose games; ground in West

The last week for the Columbus Blue Jackets has been one of the roughest stretches of the season. After going into the NHL All-Star Weekend playing well, they now have to play catch-up for them to have a chance of making the playoffs.

Columbus is 25-23-6 and has 56 points on the season. They are in 11th place and trail Nashville by three points for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Columbus lost a trio of games, two of which at home in Nationwide Arena. Jan. 29, the team lost to a Wayne Gretzky coached Phoenix Coyotes team. The Blue Jackets leaped to an early lead thanks to a Fredrik Modin goal just 21 seconds into the game. Phoenix answered with a goal in the middle of the second period. Jason Chimera added a goal in the second period to give the Jackets a lead. But third period goals by Mathias Tjarnqvist and Peter Mueller gave the Coyotes the lead for good. Phoenix forward Radim Vrbata added with an empty net goal with under a second to go to give Phoenix the 4-2 win.

Columbus would travel two nights later to Nashville without veteran forward Modin, and a weakened captain Adam Foote. Foote typically plays 25-30 minutes a game; only registered 20 minutes of play. Forwards Dan Fritsche and Nikolai Zherdev did notch goals but they were not enough as Nashville won 4-2.

The week finished Saturday back at Nationwide Arena in front of the first sold out crowd of the season. The Jackets needed a big performance from backup goaltender Fredrik Norrena playing Northwest Division leading Minnesota. For 54 minutes of the game, Norrena and the Blue Jackets dominated Minnesota.

The Blue Jackets would trail the Wild 1-0 through the first period though outshot Minnesota 9-8. Columbus would tie the game early in the second with Derick Brassard scoring his first career goal thanks to Frtische out muscling Minnesota’s James Sheppard off the puck in the corner and handing off the rookie.

“I was pretty happy about it (scoring the goal),” Brassard said. “I just tried to help Fritsche in the corner, and he threw a great pass to me in the slot.”

But in a game Columbus outshot Minnesota 34-20 and outhit the Wild 18-14, six minutes filled with turnovers and odd man rushes sunk the Blue Jackets. Minnesota’s game winning goal was scored just minutes after Brassard’s game tying goal when Blue Jacket Jiri Novotny turned the puck over right in front of his own goaltender to Minnesota’s Pierre-Marc Bouchard who passed off to Brian Rolston who scored. Wild leading scorer Marian Gaborik added a pair of goals within six minutes of the Rolston goal to give Minnesota the 4-1 victory.

“After the all-star break, you see teams their level rises at least 10%,” Fritsche said. “All the playoff bound teams turn it up. There is a huge difference between the beginning of the season and the end of the season.”

“Disappointing for everybody, players included. We have poured a lot into this season,” Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We have really created an identity here… We’re going to have to get back on track here. We are in it for the long haul; we are going to keep battling.”

The Blue Jackets will go back to the battlefield this week to play Washington and Los Angeles at home and go the west coast to play Phoenix and San Jose.