Hoosiers dominated by No. 2 Buckeyes

For the IU women's basketball team, road play away from Assembly Hall has not been a strong point. The Hoosiers (9-12, Big Ten 2-9) fell yet again on the road Sunday afternoon to a strong No. 2 Ohio State Buckeye team, 78-46.\nIndiana, playing the first of three straight conference road games, was defeated by the Buckeyes for the second time this season. As was the case in their first meeting in Bloomington this season, OSU was able to pull away from the cream and crimson during long Hoosier scoring droughts. \nOhio State quickly jumped out to a 10-2 margin just three minutes into the contest. OSU would then respond to a pair of baskets by the Hoosiers with a 12-2 run over a four minute span halfway through the first frame. \nFollowing a jumper from junior guard Cyndi Valentin and a lay-up from Sarah McKay and sophomore guard Leah Enterline, IU was able to cut the Buckeye lead to 24-16 with 6:14 to play. Despite the Hoosier effort to get back in the game OSU ended the first half on a 11-2 run and took a 35-18 lead into the locker room. \nOSU opened the second half on a 7-1 spurt to take a 42-19 lead at the 16:27 mark. McKay answered for the Hoosiers with a three-point play and a lay-up to cut into the Buckeyes advantage.\nIndiana was unable to get any closer as Ohio State went on an 11-0 run over the next 3:50.\n"Ohio State is a fantastic team and they really took it to us today," coach Kathi Bennett said. "We didn't get back in transition and our effort was inconsistent. If you are playing against a team like Ohio State, you need to go all-out for 40 minutes, and we didn't do that today."\nSophomores Annika Boyd and McKay led the Hoosiers on the night scoring with 12 and nine, respectively. Ohio State was led by senior guard Caity Matter with 18 points. Sophomore standout Jessica Davenport added 16 points and a game-team 15 rebounds.\nThe Hoosiers will look to bounce back and continue their three-game conference road swing as they travel to No. 23 Penn State on Thursday, Feb. 10.