Early lead wears off as IU falls to Buckeyes at home

The IU women’s basketball team was unable to pull off the upset Thursday in Assembly Hall, losing to the ninth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes 73-55.

The Hoosiers’ record fell to 5-16 on the season and 0-8 in Big Ten play. Ohio State improved to 20-1 overall and 7-1 in the conference.

IU took the lead early on a 3-pointer from junior forward Aulani Sinclair to make it a 3-2 game. They kept the lead all the way through the first half and extended the margin to eight with 5:35 left in the first half. A 21-4 run for Ohio State to start the first seven minutes of the second half gave them a 46-30 lead, and the Buckeyes never looked back.

IU Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said the main difference between the two halves came from Ohio State.

“They put a lot more pressure on us, and we went the speed that they wanted to go,” Legette-Jack said. “I thought that our team played well for a good 30 minutes out there.”

She also said a lack of focus was a factor in the loss.

“We had a lot of mental lapses,” she said. “Our free throws really killed us, and our second-chance points didn’t do us justice. I thought we missed way too many layups.”

Leading the way for IU was Sinclair. She scored a career-high 27 points off of 5-7 shooting from the 3-point line and a perfect 4-4 for free throws while playing all 40 minutes. She also notched six rebounds and two steals.

Sinclair deflected the praise of her scoring to junior teammate Jasmine McGhee.

“Jasmine McGhee helped me out a lot because she’s a great driver for us,” she said. “When she drove to the basket they had to come over to stop her ... when they came over to guard her, it was just an easy shot for me, wide open.”

Besides setting up Sinclair, McGhee contributed in other ways. She scored nine points for the Hoosiers while grabbing a team-high 12 rebounds.

She also contributed three assists, two blocks and one steal.

Sinclair said although she was a scorer Thursday, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make the team better.

“I’m just trying to do whatever we need for us as a team to win,” she said. “If that means scoring, it means scoring. If it means rebounding, I’m going to get in there and rebound. So I’m just going to do whatever Coach tells me to do.”

Setting the pace for Ohio State was senior guard Samantha Prahalis. Coming off a Big Ten Player of the Week award, she scored 18 points and recorded nine assists, one block and three steals.

Legette-Jack said games like this will serve as a learning curve for her young team.

“We’re learning the lessons,” she said. “They’re tough lessons, but we’re learning them.”