Hoosiers fall to No. 19 Ohio State on the road

The IU women’s basketball team played No. 19 Ohio State tough on the road, but the Buckeyes used the play of Jantel Lavender, Marscilla Packer and Tamarah Riley to earn a 71-59 victory Thursday night in Columbus. Lavender scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds while Packer and Riley added 17 and 16 points, respectively.\nIU sophomore guard Jamie Braun scored a game-high 25 points and dished out five assists to pace IU. Junior forward Whitney Thomas and junior guard Kim Roberson also scored in double figures for the Hoosiers with 12 and 11 points, respectively. \nOhio State shot 59 percent from the field for the game, and 68 percent in the second half, while the Hoosiers shot just 41 percent for the game. The Buckeyes also held an advantage at the free-throw line, shooting 11-15, while IU went 3-7.\nOhio State outrebounded the Hoosiers 36-27, but was forced into 19 turnovers compared to IU’s 11. The turnover ratio kept the Hoosiers in the game until late in the second half.\nOhio State led 30-27 at the half, thanks to Lavender’s 15-point and six-rebound first half. IU trailed by as many as nine points in the first half but used an 8-0 run to cut the Buckeye lead to 22-21 with 5:55 left in the half.\nThe Hoosiers raced out of the gates in the second half with a 12-2 run in the first four minutes of action to gain a 39-32 lead. But Ohio State quickly responded with a 7-0 run of its own in the next two minutes of action to knot the game at 39-39. \nIU was never able to regain the lead, and the Buckeyes maintained at least a five-point lead for the rest of the contest before extending the lead on their solid free-throw shooting.