Johnson leads Buckeye women past Iowa in quarterfinals

Associated Press

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Brittany Johnson tied career highs with 23 points and seven 3-pointers to help Ohio State defeat No. 24 Iowa 71-61 in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals Friday night.

Jantel Lavender had 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Buckeyes (20-9), who won their seventh straight and advanced to play No. 1 seed Michigan State on today in a semifinal. Penn State, the No. 2 seed, will play No. 11 seed Illinois in the other semifinal.

Jaime Printy led Iowa with 19 points, and Morgan Johnson added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Hawkeyes (22-8). Iowa, which had won five consecutive games, shot just 33 percent.

Johnson helped the Buckeyes break away from a 27-all halftime tie. She scored 17 points after the break, and the Buckeyes shot 54 percent in the second half.

Ohio State defeated Iowa 66-64 in the final last year.

No. 11 Michigan St. 56, Northwestern 25

The last time Michigan State played Northwestern, the Spartans allowed Amy Jaeschke to score 25 points.

That’s how many points Jaeschke’s entire team scored in the rematch.

The 11th-ranked Spartans turned in a record-setting defensive performance in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals. Top-seeded Michigan State (26-4) held the Wildcats to the lowest points total in the 17-year history of the tournament.

Michigan set the previous low, scoring 37 points in a quarterfinals loss to Iowa in 2008.

“I was proud of our team defensively,” Michigan State coach Suzy Merchant said. “Today, I thought we were very, very solid.”

Porsche Poole scored 11 points, and Brittney Thomas and Lykendra Johnson each scored 10 points for the Spartans, whose dominant defensive effort made up for 42 percent shooting.

Jaeschke and Allison Mocchi led Northwestern (18-13) with six points each.