Buckeye defense suffocates IU

The IU women's basketball team's struggles with ranked Big Ten opponents continued Sunday in a disappointing 61-45 loss to No. 7 Ohio State. All five of IU's conference losses have been to ranked opponents.\nThe Buckeyes wasted no time showing why they are one of the nation's best teams, jumping out to an early 13-2 advantage. Ohio State's zone defense caused problems for the Hoosiers, limiting them to just seven of 24 shooting in the first half.\nDriven by a player control foul against senior guard Cyndi Valentin, IU fought back with the Cream and Crimson crowd booing the call. Sophomore guard Nikki Smith hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to bring IU within six points.\n"Nikki has been in a lull for awhile," coach Sharon Versyp said. "I'm glad to see she's stepping up and doing the things that she does well."\nOhio State held off IU going into the half, leading 27-19. The Hoosiers came out of the locker room re-energized and scored two quick buckets to bring them within four. \nAfter Valentin picked up her fourth foul, the Buckeyes took advantage, knocking down three quick shots that gave them the 39-30 lead.\nRefusing to go away, even with the team's leading scorer on the bench, IU made another run of its own to close within three points. The Hoosiers seemed ready to take control when Valentin returned to the game, only to draw her fifth foul with 5:18 left on a reach in the backcourt.\n"I got into foul trouble early and never really got into the rhythm of the game," Valentin said. "It's my fault committing some stupid fouls so it's very frustrating."\nValentin leads the team in minutes played this season with almost 35 a game, but her foul trouble limited the senior to just 25 minutes and eight points against the Buckeyes.\nWith Valentin out and senior center Angie Hawkins on the bench with five fouls as well, the Hoosiers were never able to regain momentum and lost 61-45.\n"Ohio State is a hard team to play catch-up with," Smith said. "We let them set the tone from the beginning."\nSmith was the lone IU player in double-digits with 12 points -- all of them on 3-pointers.\nFollowing the game, Versyp expressed her disappointment with her team. \n"I wasn't pleased with anything with this game, not one thing," Versyp said. "(We were) very undisciplined today, not ready to go, mentally out of it."\nIU will continue its three-game home stand at 7 p.m. Thursday as it attempts to rebound against the Penn State Nittany Lions.