Buckeyes Down Hawkeyes In Columbus

Stats

Jan. 24, 2011

Box Score

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — The University of Iowa women’s basketball team didn’t have an answer for Ohio State’s front court duo of Jantel Lavender and Ashley Adams on Monday night, as the pair helped the Buckeyes claim an 81-67 victory at Value City Arena.

Lavender and Adams combined to make 16-of-22 field goal attempts to score 38 points, while also pulling down 15 rebounds and handing out nine assists. The duo was two of five Ohio State players — all five starters — to score in double digits. The Buckeyes shot 55.6 percent from the floor and had 24 assists on their 30 field goals.

“They were definitely looking for their high-low and they run it effectively,” said senior Kachine Alexander, who in the game became the first Iowa guard and the sixth player in school history with over 800 career rebounds.

The Hawkeyes had four players land in double digits in the game with junior Kelly Krei leading the way with 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Alexander narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with nine points and 11 rebounds to go along with seven assists.

After trailing by a point at the break, Ohio State took control of the game over the first eight minutes of the second half turning the 33-32 deficit into a 60-48 lead. The Buckeyes made eight of their first 10 shots to start the half with Lavender and Adams accounting for 14 points.

“They outplayed us the second half in every regard — shooting, defensively, rebounding,” said UI head coach Lisa Bluder. “The first half was a great game between the two teams, but the second half they came out with a lot more intensity and that was the difference in the game.”

Ohio State’s torrid shooting continued for the remainder of the game, as it shot 72 percent from the floor in the second half, making 18-of-25 field goal attempts.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair as there were six ties and seven lead changes. The Buckeyes jumped out to a 19-14 lead at the 9:23 mark before Iowa scored 9-of-11 points to take a 23-22 lead with 7:04 left in the first half.

Ohio State used back-to-back long balls by Brianna Sanders and Tayler Hill to push its lead back to four points (32-28). The Hawkeyes, however, netted the final five points of the half on five free throws by Kelsey Cermak and Jaime Printy to take a 33-32 lead into the break.

The Hawkeyes look to bounce back on Thursday night when they welcome No. 10 Michigan State to Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

“It’s a tough bounce back game,” said Bluder. “It’s tough to come back and play them, but we have them at home — that’s good… it becomes a very important game for us.”