Friday, December 30, 2005
Jessica Davenport scored 19 points in the 74-53 victory.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Beating Penn State is always special for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Jessica Davenport scored 19 points and Kim Wilburn sparked the defense with four first-half steals to lead No. 7 Ohio State to a 74-53 victory over the Nittany Lions on Thursday night.
"It felt good to beat a team that's dominated our league," said Wilburn, who had nine points, five rebounds, seven assists, four steals and no turnovers. "We're trying to show our identity, to make a statement in the Big Ten."
Largest win margin
Debbie Merrill and Marscilla Packer each scored 10 points for the Buckeyes (9-1), who won by the largest margin in the 40 meetings with the Nittany Lions.
"We had a tough loss a couple of weeks ago (to No. 3 LSU), so it's nice to bounce back and show what we can do," Wilburn said.
The Buckeyes avoided a repeat of last season's disappointment. They were 11-1 and ranked No. 7 when they started Big Ten play with a 69-62 loss at Penn State, which was just 6-5 at the time.
"It doesn't matter who it is -- it's a conference game," Ohio State coach Jim Foster said. "They're a team with a lot of tradition, a lot of pride. It's just good to start with a win. They've won their last six conference openers in a row. So all of the above is good."
Leading Penn State
Kamela Gissendanner had 15 points and Adrienne Squire 11 for the Nittany Lions (6-6), who won 11 of 15 previous games against Ohio State in Columbus.
Coach Rene Portland is trying to bring an extremely young team around slowly. The growing pains were evident as they turned the ball over 24 times, were outrebounded 36-30 and didn't hit a 3-pointer (0 for 3).
"It's glaring statistics," she said. "Obviously, it's our turnovers -- some induced, some self-induced -- and the rebounding situation. We're a young team trying to survive the situation."
Early turnovers
Penn State had 16 turnovers -- and just 20 points -- in trailing by 18 at halftime. Nine Buckeyes scored and eight had rebounds.
The Nittany Lions scored the first five points of the second half to draw to 38-25, but Ohio State ran off the next nine points and the lead hovered around 20 the rest of the game.
Squire hit all three of her free-throw attempts, keeping her a perfect 45-for-45 on the season. The sophomore has not missed a foul shot in her college career, making all 55. The Division I record is 66 free throws in a row.
Charity Renfro, a reserve for the Lions, hurt her left ankle in the final minutes and was helped to the bench.
Foster said he realized that the 64-48 loss to LSU on Dec. 15 was no reason to make major revisions to his lineup or approach.
"It's not like we had to rebuild the wheel," he said. "We just have to take what the other teams give us."
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.