Prahalis propels OSU to victory

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Samantha Prahalis, the only senior on Ohio State’s roster, has been through a lot of battles on the court.

So it figured that when the No. 10 Buckeyes were badly in need of a bucket on Sunday against No. 16 Purdue, it was their most experienced player who supplied a dagger of a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left to pave the way to an 80-71 victory.

“We grinded it out, we played as a team and we won,” said the diminutive point guard, who notched 21 of her 26 points after halftime.

Down as many as eight points earlier in the half, Ohio State fought back with a 12-3 run capped by a pair of free throws from Prahalis to take a 51-50 lead with 12:32 left. The teams then traded baskets and the lead to the finish.

The Buckeyes (22-3, 9-3 Big Ten) finally took the lead for good on a hustle play. With a loose ball sitting on the floor between two Purdue players in the Boilermakers’ backcourt, Prahalis swooped in, scooped it up and went the length of the court to put the Buckeyes up 67-65 with 4:07 remaining.

But the Boilermakers (19-6, 9-3) wouldn’t go away. Courtney Moses hit a left-handed follow with just over a minute left to narrow what had been a six-point deficit to 73-71.

Ohio State called timeout with 43 seconds left. Prahalis, the Big Ten’s second-leading scorer at 21.4 points a game, tossed an inbound pass to center Ashley Adams, who quickly kicked it right back to her. Prahalis’ 3-pointer from the right wing pushed the lead to five and spurred a clinching 7-0 run over the final minute.

Amber Stokes added 14 points and Adams 13, while conference scoring leader Tayler Hill wasn’t much of a factor offensively before hitting two late free throws. She finished with 12 points.

The Buckeyes played with desperation in the second half, well aware that a loss would put them two games off the pace in the conference with just four games left.

The Buckeyes now find themselves with three losses in the Big Ten — the same as Purdue, Penn State and Nebraska — with just two weeks remaining in the regular season.

Brittany Rayburn had 22 points, and Sam Ostarello 12 points and 10 rebounds for Purdue, which dominated the boards 41-24 but committed 18 turnovers.