Early lead helps OSU women roll past VCU

Staff report

COLUMBUS

The Ohio State women’s basketball team showed no signs of a holiday hangover while blasting VCU 88-50 in Columbus on Thursday night.

Tayler Hill, Raven Ferguson and Aleksandra Dobranic all scored in double figures and 11 of the 12 active Buckeyes registered a field goal in the rout of the Rams (6-7).

The 24th-ranked Buckeyes (9-3) did not waste much time taking control in the first half.

They jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a free throw by center Ashley Adams and three consecutive layups by power forward Dobranic.

Robyn Parks got the Rams on the board for the first time with a pair of free throws at the 16:35 mark, but Ohio State scored the next nine points to open up a 16-2 lead.

After a jumper by Adams, the Buckeye backcourt took the baton as Ameryst Alston hit a three-pointer from the right wing, Amber Stokes connected on a mid-range jumper and Tayler Hill closed the run with a layup.

Every Buckeye starter had a basket before the Rams scored their first field goal, a jumper by Parks that made it 16-4 at the 12:37 mark. Janniina Koivunen added a three-pointer 46 seconds later to cut the Rams’ deficit to nine, but that was as close as they would get in the half.

Ohio State ripped off an 19-7 run over the next five-plus minutes.

Hill started the spurt with a jumper at the 11:08 mark and later had a three-pointer before it was over. Reserve forward Martina Ellerbe had six points on a trio of layups while reserve guard Raven Ferguson added five points. Stokes capped the run with a three-point play that made it 35-14 with 6:42 and gave the Buckeyes their first lead of more than 20.

Ohio State led 47-21 at the break with Hill leading all scorers with nine points. Dobranic and Ellerbe added six apiece.

The Buckeyes shot 57.1 percent (20 for 35) from the field while holding the Rams to just 22.2 percent (6 for 27).