OSU women rout Illinois, 67-35

Jantel Lavender led the Buckeyes with 14 points and 14 rebounds.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Jantel Lavender had 14 points and 14 rebounds and Star Allen added 13 points and 12 rebounds to lead No. 15 Ohio State to a 67-35 win over Illinois on Monday night.

Ashlee Trebilcock scored 11 points for Ohio State (14-2, 5-0), which stayed unbeaten in the Big Ten.

The Buckeyes overcame a slow start and 12 turnovers to lead 27-20 at the half.

Ohio State shot 36 percent from the field before the break, but held Illinois (5-13, 0-6) to just 29 percent shooting.

Ohio State went on a 12-2 run to start the second half to put the game away.

The Buckeyes shot 64 percent from the field in the second half, and outrebounded the Illini 46-27 for the game.

Jenna Smith led Illinois with 14 points.

Lacey Simpson added 12 points for the Illini, who were 0-for-8 from 3-point range.

Pitts’ Sims out

PITTSBURGH — Pitt junior point guard Jania Sims will miss the rest of the season after being diagnosed with stress fractures in both legs.

The injuries were discovered as Sims was being treated for ankle and knee injuries that have since healed.

Sims was hurt in the opening five minutes of Pitt’s season opener against Texas A&M.

Sims will apply for a medical redshirt that would give her two seasons of eligibility beginning in 2009-10.

Pitt will be without freshman center Kate Popovec for two to weeks because of a sprained ankle that occurred Friday in practice.

Popovec sat out a 69-62 loss to DePaul on Saturday because of the injury.

Popovec, a Canfield High grad, is averaging 6.4 points and a team-leading 6.7 rebounds per game.

Pitt, which reached the NCAA tournament round of 16 last season, fell out of the Top 25 on Monday after being ranked 19th a week ago.

The Panthers also lost at Providence 77-69 last week.