No. 18 Ohio St. Dominates Delaware St. 68-35

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- There was nothing fancy about the way Ohio State sophomore center Jantel Lavender dominated inside against Delaware State on Tuesday.

Other than a misguided jumper early in the game, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year had hit every shot to lead the No. 18 Buckeyes to a 68-35 victory.

She made 12 of 13 field goals and all five free throws for a season-high 29 points in 29 minutes. Lavender added 11 rebounds for her 11th double-double in as many games this season and 24 in her career.

"I was just focused. The passes were there. I was open. I got great position and I just finished," she said.

Lavender's only miss was a 17-foot jumper 3:13 seconds into the game. She made her last 10 shots.

Ohio State (9-2) held the Lady Hornets without a field goal for almost 9 minutes, and took a 34-16 halftime lead as Lavender nearly outscored Delaware State herself. She had all of her 15 points in the first 11 minutes, and it took Candice Stewart's layup at the buzzer for the Hornets to surpass her total.

"(Lavender) had great looks and finished," Ohio State coach Jim Foster said.

Keyhana Wakefield hit a 3-pointer to give the Lady Hornets (2-6) their only lead at 3-2 before Ohio State scored 11 straight points. When Lavender went to the bench with 8:46 left in the first half the Buckeyes had a 21-8 advantage.

"We played a very good defensive basketball game. At different times we played a very good offensive basketball game," Foster said. "Overall, we played a good solid basketball game."

Cortney Crockett had 10 points for Delaware State in the first meeting between the schools.

The Hornets were coming off a 46-35 home win over Farleigh Dickinson on Saturday that broke a five-game losing streak.

Ohio State has won three straight. In a 68-54 win Monday against Cleveland State, Foster was unhappy that his team did not force the ball inside and earned only six free throws.

The Buckeyes went 12 of 18 from the line against Delaware State.

"Our energy was higher the whole game as opposed to (Monday)," Ohio State center Andrea Walker said.

Foster was pleased that the Buckeyes did not let up in the second half after allowing Cleveland State to cut into a 30-point lead the previous game.

Ohio State led 45-25 with 12:34 to play before Delaware State cut the margin to 15, 48-33, over the next two minutes. The Buckeyes responded with a 7-0 run.

"I was happy with our turnaround from (Monday), the intensity level and how we came out as a team tonight and played all together," Ohio State forward Sarah Schulze said.

Even 20 turnovers did not upset Foster.

"We just played 11 players double-figure minutes two nights in a row. It's hard to do," he said. "There's combinations of players on the floor that don't even play together in practice. You go through adjustments. Those players made some pretty good adjustments as we went along."


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