IU upsets No. 20 Ohio State in overtime 69-61

For the first 33 minutes of Monday’s game between IU and No. 20 Ohio State at Assembly Hall, the visitors looked like the better team. For the last seven minutes of regulation and in overtime, the Buckeyes could barely keep up. \nSparked by 19 points and eight rebounds from sophomore guard Jamie Braun and 11 bench points from freshman guard Jori Davis – returning after a 12-game injury layoff – the IU women’s basketball team defeated its second ranked foe of the season, Ohio State, 69-61.\nThe Hoosiers (16-12, 9-7) trailed a majority of the second half, falling behind by as many as 12 points. But with 7:41 left in the game, IU started scoring – and Ohio State (20-7, 11-5) stopped. \nIU held Jim Foster’s three-time defending Big Ten champions to zero points for more than seven minutes, while staging a furious rally to turn a 10-point deficit into a two-point lead before the Buckeyes’ freshman center Jantel Lavender converted a layup with 29 seconds left. That score sent the game to overtime, during which the Hoosiers overcame seven points from Ohio State guard Marscilla Packer – the only points the Buckeyes scored in the frame – to pull away for the win. \nIn total, IU tripled Ohio State in the game’s last 12:41, outscoring the visitors 27-9. \nIU coach Felisha Legette-Jack said her team’s ability to focus led to its comeback. \n“Our goal was to not look at the score,” Legette-Jack said. “All we wanted to do was give ourselves a shot.”\nBraun scored 11 of her 19 points in the second half, including a stretch of seven straight points during the Hoosiers’ rally. She said she thought she needed to be more aggressive offensively coming out of halftime. \n“I just started attacking more,” Braun said. “In the first half, I wasn’t playing \nmy game.” \nThe game’s end was nothing short of frantic, and the Hoosiers did not lock the game up until Davis scored on a baseline layup and then stole the inbounds pass. She was immediately fouled and made two free throws, stretching IU’s lead to six. \nIU went with the same five players for the last 16:30 of the game, a move Legette-Jack credited to the lineup’s “rhythm” working together. \nThe Hoosiers owned a sizable advantage at the free-throw line, and their performance there was key down the stretch. IU went 21-of-24 from the line, far better than Ohio State’s 6-of-8 effort. The home team also went 11-for-12 in that decisive 12-plus minute stretch at the end of the game. \n“I think they were putting the ball on the floor,” Foster said of IU’s success getting to the line. “I think we weren’t rotating.”\nOhio State forward Tamarah Riley gave the Hoosiers fits inside, scoring 15 points and pulling down 16 rebounds, 10 of them in the first half alone. But Riley fouled out with 2:38 left, and the tandem of IU junior forwards Whitney Thomas and Amber Jackson helped neutralize the prolific Lavender. \nThe Hoosiers, an NCAA Tournament bubble team, might have played their way back into contention, if not into the field. However, Legette-Jack said she and her team refuse to look beyond Minnesota on Thursday. \n“That’s the only focus we have,” Legette-Jack said. “All we have is the moment, and we’re going to keep this team in the moment.”