Indiana University
7/7 Ohio State
Hoosiers Come Up Short Against No. 7/7 Buckeyes
2/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2006
Box Score | Photo Gallery
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 7/7 Ohio State Buckeyes were too much for the Indiana women's basketball team as the Buckeyes earned a 61-45 win over the Hoosiers on Sunday, Feb. 5 at Branch McCracken Court at Assembly Hall. With the loss, Indiana slipped to 12-10 overall and 6-5 in conference play, while Ohio State moved to 18-2 on the season and 9-1 in the Big Ten.
Sophomore guard Nikki Smith led Indiana in scoring with 12 points on a solid 4-of-5 three-point shooting effort. Freshman forward Whitney Thomas added nine points and eight rebounds in the loss.
IU scored the first four points of the second half to cut OSU's halftime lead in half at 27-23, but junior center Jessica Davenport and the Buckeyes were just too much for the Hoosiers. Following senior Cyndi Valentin's fourth foul, the Buckeyes went on a 9-2 run to push their lead back to 11 at 43-32 with 10:00 left in the game.
Indiana refused to give up and fought its way back into the game as it responded with an 8-0 run, capped by a steal and three-point play by junior guard Leah Enterline.
That was the closest the Hoosiers had been since Ohio State led, 5-2, at the 18:11 mark in the first half, and as close as Indiana would come to taking the lead the rest of the way. OSU built its lead back to 12 at 54-42 as it closed out the final 8:38 of the game on an 18-5 run.
The Buckeyes built an early 13-2 lead to open the game due to solid defensive pressure forcing the Hoosiers into tough shots throughout the half. IU endured a 6:30 scoring drought until Thomas broke the scoring drought with a tricky shot in the lane as the shot clock expired.
Indiana forced Ohio State into seven first half turnovers and held them to 2-of-8 (25 percent) shooting from behind the arc, but struggled to get on track offensively, putting up 19 points on 7-of-24 (29.2 percent) shooting from the field and just 3-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Senior Jenny DeMuth collected one more steal as she closed to within three of IU's all-time mark for steals. The senior guard/forward currently has 208 in her career. Tisha Hill owns the school record with 210.
The Hoosiers return to the hardwood on Thursday, Feb. 9 as they take on Penn State at Branch McCracken Court at Assembly Hall. Tipoff with the Lady Lions is set for 7 p.m. and can be heard locally on WHCC-FM 105.1 with Jeremy Gray on the call.
