Buckeyes win fifth straight, drop Illinois, 43-42

January 18, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

COLUMBUS (AP) — Maria Moeller made a 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining to give No. 16 Ohio State a 43-42 comeback win over Illinois on Thursday night.

Down by seven points with 4:56 left, the Buckeyes got a layup from Jantel Lavender and a 3-pointer from Marscilla Packer to cut Illinois’ lead to 42-40.

Moeller, a reserve sophomore guard, scored from the right corner on her only shot of the game to give the Buckeyes (14-3, 5-1 Big Ten) their fifth-straight win.

Ashlee Trebilcock led the Buckeyes with 11 points. Lavender finished with 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.

Jenna Smith scored 16 points for Illinois (11-6, 3-3), which had been off for a week after defeating Minnesota on Jan. 10. Lori Bjork added 12 for the Illini.

Ohio State shot 32.7 percent from the field (16 of 49) and Illinois hit 33 percent (18 of 54).