Buckeyes rally to beat Indiana

The Hoosiers stopped Jessica Davenport, but her teammates took control.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Indiana did its best to slow down All-American Jessica Davenport. Trouble was, Ohio State had enough other players to do the job.
Debbie Merrill had nine points and 10 rebounds and patrolled the inside on defense to lead No. 7 Ohio State to a 60-50 victory over Indiana on Thursday night.
Brandie Hoskins scored 12 points and Marscilla Packer had 11 for the Buckeyes (14-2, 5-1 Big Ten), who won their fifth straight and eighth in the last nine games.
"We knew coming in here that the focus would be on trying to take Davenport out of the game and taking Packer out of the game," Indiana coach Sharon Versyp said. "That presents opportunities for everybody else to step up and that's what happened."
All-around effort
Merrill also had four blocked shots and three assists in an all-around effort that stood out in a defensive struggle. She set the tone on the court by hitting a bucket and blocking three shots as the Buckeyes went on an 8-2 run late in the first half to take control.
"Coach pulled me to the sideline and said I needed to score and I needed to lead the defense," said Merrill, a transfer from Cincinnati. "I had to give a burst of energy to my team."
It was an off night offensively and defensively for Davenport, the reigning player of the week in the conference. She sat out long stretches of the second half, although she finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. Just a week earlier, she had 34 points, 16 rebounds, a personal-best six assists and three blocked shots in a 72-62 win at Iowa.
"They really packed it in," Davenport said of the Hoosiers' defense. "I didn't do a good job of moving around the defense."
Leading the Hoosiers
Cyndi Valentin scored 18 points and Whitney Thomas had 12 points and 13 rebounds for Indiana (9-8, 3-3), which won its last two conference road games.
The Hoosiers have not beaten a ranked opponent since upsetting No. 7 Purdue 55-41 in the 2002 Big Ten tournament.
The Buckeyes matched their season average on defense. They came in ranked second in the nation in points allowed per game at 50.3.
With Indiana players jamming the paint on defense, they were forced to shoot outside. They hit six of 13 3-pointers to help open things up.
"I don't think I remember a bad 3-point shot," Ohio State coach Jim Foster said. "We would like to run, but they packed it in and took away the inside. We did a very good job on 3-pointers."
Jumped out quickly
In an up-and-down first half, Ohio State broke out to a 7-0 lead before missing seven shots in a row as Indiana used a 10-0 run to take a 14-12 lead. The Buckeyes then recovered to permit the Hoosiers only one field goal over the final 5 1/2 minutes of the half to take a 29-20 lead.
Despite the three quick baskets to open the game, the Buckeyes didn't play well in the first half for the fourth time in their six conference games.
Merrill dominated inside in the final minutes of the half as Ohio State scored eight of the final 10 points. During that span, she blocked three consecutive shots by the Hoosiers.
Indiana never got closer than six points in the second half.