Lavender leads Ohio St. past Cal

COLUMBUS (AP) — California coach Joanne Boyle called it the “Sammy and Jantel Show,” and the curtain went up just when No. 3 Ohio State got into trouble.

Lavender broke out of a shooting lump to score 11 points during a big second-half surge, and the Buckeyes beat No. 22 California 83-71 on Sunday in the finals of the Buckeye Classic.

Prahalis had four of her career-high 14 assists during the run and also started it out with a driving layup.

“I’m always confident in my team,” Prahalis said. “I knew we were about to make a run soon. We wanted to make something happen. Jantel was hot, so I just kept feeding her.”

After hitting 5 of 15 shots in the semifinals, Lavender made all four of her field goals and both free throws as the Buckeyes (8-0) used a 15-0 run to take a 60-47 lead.

“They were really leaning on my left shoulder,” said Lavender, who finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds. “They left [the right side] wide open. That was an advantage I had.”

California (3-2), which lost to its second top-10 team in eight days, was led by Alexis Gray-Lawson’s 25 points. DeNesha Stallworth added 13 points and Gennifer Brandon 12.

Prahalis had 14 points to go with her 14 assists, while Sarah Schulze scored 15 points, all on 3-pointers.

But when the Buckeyes fell behind for the first time, they went to their top two players.

“It’s not that you have to play a perfect game, but you’ve got to play close to perfect,” Cal coach Joanne Boyle said. “They know their identity. Eventually it’s going to become the ‘Sammy and Jantel Show’ and that’s what it became for a while.”

Gray-Lawson came away impressed with Prahalis’ free-styling play. She frequently makes no-look or behind-the-back passes, and likes nothing more than to streak toward the rim and put her slight, 5-foot-7 frame in jeopardy.

“She brings a different element to the game,” Gray-Lawson said. “You only see guys that are that flashy.”

Lavender was selected the tournament’s MVP. In the title game, she hit 11 of 22 shots from the field and 11 of 12 free throws. Prahalis joined her on the all-tournament team.

With the Bears ahead 47-45 — their only lead of the game — Prahalis slashed through the lane to hit a tying layup at the 17:33 mark. Cal missed its first shot and then had six consecutive turnovers while the Buckeyes, and especially Lavender, took over.

“They just know their strength and they went to them,” Boyle said. “We struggled to score because we were turning the ball over. That just gave them easy looks and gave them momentum.”

After a 13-0 run by Ohio State to make it 58-47, the Bears never got closer than 11 points.