Davenport leads Buckeyes to win

Ohio State cruised past Nicholls State 94-35 in the Buckeye Classic.
COLUMBUS -- Ohio State scored 94 points, but Jessica Davenport wanted to talk defense.
Davenport scored 18 points, added 10 rebounds and blocked three shots to lead No. 4 Ohio State to a 94-35 win over Nicholls State in the first round of the Buckeye Classic on Saturday.
The Buckeyes held the Colonels to just 26.7 percent shooting.
"We applied great defensive pressure, executed on offense and really played hard," Davenport said.
In title game today
The Buckeyes (2-0) will play Western Illinois in today's championship game. The Leathernecks beat Eastern Washington 57-54 in Saturday's other first-round game.
Ohio State led 43-7 after the first half, holding Nicholls State (0-3) to 8.7 percent shooting from the floor. The Colonels made just two of 23 shots in the half.
Nicholls State played better in the second half, shooting 45.5 percent from the field.
But the Buckeyes shot 64.9 percent for the game and scored 30 points off of 18 turnovers. Star Allen scored 17 points, Candace Dark added 12 points and Debbie Merrill scored 11 for the Buckeyes.
"Except for some lapses in the second half, I thought we kept our defensive pressure up for most of the game," Ohio State coach Jim Foster said. "We played with a lot of intensity and on offense we shared the ball very well."
Toughens up schedule
Nicholls State head coach Mark Cook said he put Ohio State on the Colonels' schedule so his team can learn how to play tough, physical games.
"They're [Ohio State] good athletes and very physical," Cook said. "We have many young kids, so at halftime you have to tell them what they are doing wrong. We're trying to set the tone with our young kids."
Claire Barry led Nicholls State with 12 points, including three 3-pointers. Katherine Plummer added seven points and three rebounds.