OSU defeats No. 22 IU, 70-51

A steal by senior forward Tabitha Gerardot with about eight minutes remaining led to a Larryn Brooks 3-pointer to bring IU within eight points, cutting Ohio State’s lead to 56-48.
 
It was the closest the Hoosiers would get to the Buckeyes in the second half.

Ohio State junior guard Raven Ferguson responded with back-to-back layups and sparked a 10-0 run for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State (12-7, 2-1) defeated IU (14-1, 1-1) 70-51, handing the Hoosiers its first loss of the season IU and snapping the program’s 14-game win streak.

“Tough game for us tonight but a lot of credit to Ohio State on why it was difficult,” IU coach Curt Miller said. “I thought their defense was terrific against us.”

The Buckeyes forced 15 turnovers and held the Hoosiers to 28.8 percent (17-of-59) shooting for the game, including 19 percent (6-of-32) shooting in the second half.

“We had a lot of good shots in the second half and we just didn’t make them,” senior forward Tabitha Gerardot said.

Miller said he was surprised Ohio State didn’t play zone defense against IU.

“Their man (defense) was really good,” he said.

Ohio State sophomore guard Ameryst Alston led all scorers with 29 points on 61.9 percent (13-of-21) shooting from the field.

Ohio State Coach Kevin McGuff said Alston was in attack mode the entire game.

“We’re a different team when she is playing with that type of aggressiveness,” Ohio State Coach Kevin McGuff said.

The Hoosiers shot better as a team in the first half at 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from the field, 33 percent (1-of-3) from 3-point range.The Buckeyes shot 62.1 percent (18-of-29) from the field in the first half but were held to 45 percent (15-of-29) in the second half.

Despite that, it finished 53.4 percent (31-58) from the field as a team.

With 13 minutes and 32 seconds remaining in the first half, Ohio State went on a 12-2 run to give itself a 20-10 lead. Freshman guard Taylor Agler hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to seven.

Ferguson responded with a 3-pointer of her own to extend the lead back to 10 for Ohio State.

Ferguson’s 3-pointer was part of a stretch from 13 minutes and 32 seconds to eight minutes and 49 seconds in which Ohio State shot 62.5 percent (5-of-8) as a team.

The Buckeyes built their early lead on a 12-2 run in the middle of the first half, but the Hoosiers edged the Buckeyes on an 11-10 run in the final five minutes to cut Ohio State’s lead to 39-29 at the half.

When the deficit was cut to eight points in the second half, Miller said he looked out onto the court and saw four freshmen and a first-year transfer player when the team made the run.

“We had five newcomers on the floor when we did make a run back at them, and that bodes well for the future,” he said.

Miller said he thought the team was a little tentative.

“I’m not sure if that’s the long layoff of 9-10 days in between games, or we were just a little tentative from the start and on our heels,” he said. “But a lot of credit, again, to Ohio State.”