Women struggle, but win

Michigan State stopped Jessica Davenport, but the Buckeyes still won 68-64.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Ohio State showed it can improvise when needed.
With two-time Big Ten player of the year Jessica Davenport frustrated by the Michigan State defense, the Buckeyes changed strategy without a hitch Sunday.
Debbie Merrill scored seven of her 15 points in a critical late flurry to give the No. 5 Buckeyes the lead for good, and the conference's regular season champs fended off No. 16 Michigan State 68-64 in the tournament semifinals.
Courtney Davidson, the Ursuline High graduate, sank a pair of 3-pointers as Michigan State made it's comeback. Davidson finished with nine points.
"Jessica is such a great player and draws so much attention, I was just wide open underneath and I just laid it up," Merrill said.
18th straight win
Ohio State won its 18th straight and reached its first tournament title game since 2003. It faces No. 14 Purdue, a 61-47 winner over Indiana in the other semifinal, tonight. It's only the third time in tournament history that the top two seeds made it to the finals.
With Davenport struggling to get open against the swarming Spartans, the Buckeyes relied on others to do the work.
Merrill, who was in foul trouble much of the first half, was the primary option. Brandie Hoskins and Marscilla Packer, whose outside shooting and hard drives gave Ohio State a more balanced attack, provided more help. Hoskins and Packer each finished with 15 points, while Davenport managed 10 points and 14 rebounds.
It was exactly the way fourth-seeded Michigan State wanted to play, just not the result they'd expected.
The Spartans (22-9) were led by Liz Shimek with 23 points and six rebounds while Lindsay Bowen added 11 points. But it wasn't quite enough for Michigan State to defend last year's tournament title.
Mistake at the end
Michigan State even had a shot at the end by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to close within 65-64 but called a timeout it did not have to stop the clock with one second remaining. Ohio State then closed it out by making three of four free throws.
The Buckeyes stood up to Michigan State's pressure, physical play and persistence.
"It was a physical game," Ohio State coach Jim Foster said. "You could either whine about it or you could pull up your shorts and do something about it."
Despite a rash of early turnovers, losing Merrill for 14 minutes because of foul trouble and trailing much of the first half, the Buckeyes hung around long enough to make a late charge. Their 7-0 run near the end of the half gave them a 27-25 halftime lead.
Yet every time it appeared Ohio State was poised to pull away, the Spartans fought back. They rallied from a 43-36 deficit to tie the score on Shimek's layup with 9:17 to go.
Merrill takes control
That's when Merrill took control. She scored on a putback, a driving layup and completed a three-point play on three straight possessions to give Ohio State the lead for good at 52-49 with 4:54 remaining.
"I think Debbie is an X-factor for us," Davenport said. "She really needs to be on the floor."
The Buckeyes built a 65-58 lead with 22.2 seconds remaining. But Davidson hit two 3s in the last six seconds to make it 65-64 before the Buckeyes escaped.