WOMEN'S TOP 25 'Below-average' effort enough for Ohio State

The Buckeyes improved to 9-1 with a win over Penn at The Palestra.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Ohio State won five straight games with little trouble. Getting the sixth proved to be a little different.
Brandie Hoskins scored a season-high 21 points and Jessica Davenport added 18 to lead No. 10 Ohio State past Penn 70-57 on Monday.
Ohio State (9-1) had won its previous five games by an average of 40 points.
"We won but it was a below-average effort," Hoskins said. "We have to get off to a better start and take better care of the ball. It just wasn't there in this game, but we have to learn from it."
The Buckeyes, which led the nation in fewest fouls last season, committed 22 fouls against Penn.
"You would have thought we were a rugby team out there," Ohio State coach Jim Foster said. "That comes from lack of communication and it's one of the areas that we need to work on."
Hoskins was 9-of-14 from the field in falling one point shy of her career high -- set against Penn on Dec. 21, 2003.
Karen Habrukowich scored 19 points and Jennifer Fleischer recorded 14 points to lead Penn (3-6), which lost its fourth in a row.
Sluggish start
Ohio State missed its first five shots, and didn't score until Kim Wilburn's steal and layup 4:25 into the game.
Then the Buckeyes broke the game open with a 32-5 run in the next 12 minutes. Hoskins led the way, going 6-of-9 from the field for 14 points, as Ohio State cruised to a 38-20 halftime lead.
"We played much better in the first half, we just didn't carry it over to the second half," said Wilburn, who led the team with eight rebounds and six steals.
"I thought our women did a great job in the last seven minutes," Penn coach Patrick Knapp said.
Penn, which trailed by as many as 22, pulled within 59-52 with four minutes left on Joey Rhoads' 3-pointer.
Ohio State's Caity Matter answered with a 3-pointer and Hoskins hit two more field goals to seal the win.
The Buckeyes were dominant inside, outscoring Penn 34-14 in the paint.
Penn, which fell to 0-3 in the all-time series, had a better showing than last year's 95-54 loss to Ohio State.
"We were a lot more confident this year," Habrukowich said. "We put last year in the past, plus we were playing at The Palestra."
It was a homecoming for Foster, who coached Saint Joseph's for 13 years.
"When the P.A. announcer says it's the most historic building in the country, you know it's a special place to play basketball," Foster said.