IU falls to 3-3 in Big Ten play

Last Thursday, the IU women's basketball team won its third Big Ten game of the year in a game at Northwestern. After the win, IU coach Sharon Versyp gave her team three days off before they would come back and prepare for their game with No. 7 Ohio State.\nIn the early moments of last night's game with the Buckeyes, it seemed that the extra rest had backfired for Versyp and the Hoosiers as Ohio State jumped out of the gates strong, taking an early 12-2 lead.\nThe persistent Hoosiers stuck with the ranked Buckeyes, clawing their way back into the game. An aggressive IU team slashed its way to a 16-12 advantage powered by freshman forward Whitney Thomas and senior guard Cyndi Valentin.\nThe lead was short-lived as Ohio State ended the half on a 15-4 run to give them a nine point advantage at the break.\nPrior to the game, Versyp identified slowing down Ohio State junior Jessica Davenport as a priority if her Hoosiers were going to pull off the upset.\n"We have to limit her touches and let everyone else beat us," Versyp said. "We have to take her out of the game with double and triple teams."\nAt the half, Davenport had scored only one basket and pulled down four rebounds as the IU defense pressured her every time she touched the ball.\nThe suffocating defense on the Big Ten Player of the Week continued in the second half, but Davenport's teammates stepped in to fill the scoring void.\nBuckeyes forward Brandie Hoskins and guard Marscilla Packer were there to break the Hoosier momentum each time the Ohio State lead dwindled.\nIU pulled within six points twice in the second frame, but that was as close as the Hoosiers would get.\nA late Valentin 3-pointer in the final minute shrunk the lead to ten, but the Buckeyes dribbled out the clock as the Hoosiers looked on. The 60-50 road loss dropped IU back to 3-3 in Big Ten play and 9-8 overall.\nOn the night, Valentin led IU with 18 points on seven of 15 shooting from the floor. Thomas chipped in with 12 points and 13 rebounds in a team-high 37 minutes.\nThe Hoosiers will now return to Bloomington for two home games. The first game of the mini home stand will be 2 p.m. Sunday at Assembly Hall.