Davenport leads unbeaten Ohio State past USC, 68-57

No. 6 Rutgers and No. 9 Maryland also won.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES -- Ohio State center Jessica Davenport made up for last week's bad night on the boards with the best rebounding game of her career Sunday.
The All-American center had a career-best 18 rebounds and scored 15 points as the fourth-ranked Buckeyes beat USC 68-57. Her effort came eight days after Davenport managed just three rebounds in an overtime win against Boston College.
"Me getting three rebounds is not helping out a lot," said Davenport, who averaged 9.3 boards last season, second in the Big Ten. "I'm capable of a lot more than that."
Brandie Hoskins added 20 points for the Buckeyes (6-0).
Camille LeNoir led USC with 15 points, and Eshaya Murphy added 14.
OSU pulls away
USC went on a 9-1 run early in the second half and moved into a 39-all tie with 15:50 remaining. But Ohio State pulled away from a 42-all tie with eight straight points for a 50-42 lead with 10:43 to go. Kim Wilburn finished the run with back-to-back layups.
USC (5-3) twice pulled within three, the last time at 54-51 with 6:05 remaining. Chloe Kerr's basket cut the deficit to four, 57-53, with 3:45 to play, but the Buckeyes responded with an 8-2 run, and led 65-55 with 34 seconds to go.
"We've got to step up and win games like these," Trojans coach Mark Trakh said. "Eventually, that will happen. We play everybody tough, but we've got to go past tough and get the win."
The 11-point final margin was Ohio State's biggest lead of the game.
No. 6 Rutgers 65, Princeton 56
PRINCETON, N.J. -- Cappie Pondexter scored 21 of her game-high 25 points in the second half to help Rutgers rally for the victory.
Pondexter, who also had four rebounds and three assists, was 7-for-14 from the floor and 9-for-9 from the line. Essence Carson added 14 points for Rutgers (8-0).
No. 9 Maryland 92, Arizona 67
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Marissa Coleman scored 20 points, Crystal Langhorne had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Maryland rolled to its fourth straight victory.
Shay Doron had 12 points and 13 assists for the Terrapins (8-1), who had six players reach double figures. Coleman, a freshman forward, went 8-for-11 from floor and 4-for-5 from 3-point range.
Maryland closed the first half with a 17-0 run to take a 46-27 lead, then increased the margin to 26 points with 12 minutes remaining.
No. 24 Purdue 70, Valparaiso 55
FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Katie Gearlds scored 28 points, including six of nine 3-pointers, and Aya Traore added 23 points for Purdue.
Betsy Rietema led Valparaiso (4-4) with 13 points and Carrie Myers added 12.
No. 25 N.C. State 76,Delaware State 58
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Tiffany Stansbury had 23 points and six rebounds to lead North Carolina State past Delaware State.
Ashley Key scored 10 of her 14 points after halftime for the Wolfpack (6-2), who dominated the second half to remain unbeaten in five home games this year.
Raquel Collier scored 23 points to lead the Hornets (4-2), who went into the break tied at 34.
Key went 4-for-5 in the second half and finished with seven assists and three steals. The Wolfpack shot 61 percent in the second half.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.