Allen, Lavender Lead No. 15 OSU Over Indiana

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It wasn't pretty - except to Ohio State coach Jim Foster.

Star Allen scored 21 points and Jantel Lavender added 17, and each had two baskets in a 15-3 surge to end the half, to lead No. 15 Ohio State past Indiana 59-51 on Sunday.

"The pretty ones, we like them, but the games like today are the ones that develop a little character for your team," Foster said.

The Buckeyes had 24 turnovers, hit just 2 of 9 3-pointers and went through long sluggish periods on offense. But the game looked like a masterpiece to a Buckeyes team (18-3, 9-1) which remained in first place in the Big Ten and kept alive its chase for a fifth consecutive conference crown.

Neither team could gain much headway on offense, with the defenses contesting every pass and shot.

"It's a fight, it's a battle. Both teams competed at a high level," Foster said. "When you look at these games, they're the ones that usually determine a good season from a bad one. When you lose them, you're thinking about them in July."

Indiana (15-5, 8-3 Big Ten) led throughout the first half and was on top by nine points before the Buckeyes took the lead for good. Lavender had five points and Allen four in the 15-3 run.

Lavender, the Big Ten's leading scorer (21.4) and rebounder (11.0), scored the final five points in the surge on a three-point play and a perimeter jumper. Allen had started the run with two baskets.

"It was very physical, but we just had to play through it," Allen said.

Ohio State, up 32-29 at the half, then slowly added to its lead.

Allen also had 13 rebounds and Lavender nine. Samantha Prahalis had eight points and six assists.

"Both are phenomenal post players," Indiana coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. "We knew they have a team that was going to be great on the inside."

Jori Davis had 15 points, Whitney Thomas 12 and Jamie Braun 10 for the Hoosiers, who had briefly led the Big Ten until a stunning 61-52 upset at Illinois a week earlier.

The Hoosiers effectively denied the ball to Lavender for the first 15 minutes, despite having to sit post player Amber Jackson who picked up two early fouls.

"They were in the key hard," Lavender said. "That was their game plan, to stop us inside and to make us hit outside shots."

Ohio State has won four in a row since a 59-56 home loss to Minnesota which briefly knocked it out of first place in the Big Ten.

Hanging on to a 38-35 lead, the Buckeyes picked up some breathing room when Allen scored two baskets inside. The first came off an assist from Prahalis that resulted in Allen's 12-foot jumper. Ashlee Trebilcock then hit Allen, who was underneath the basket, with a pass, and Allen flipped the ball in from an awkward angle to make it 42-35.

The Hoosiers never got closer than six points again.

"We're hard to guard in the post," Foster said. "When Star gets seven offensive rebounds, that's hard to defend against."

Indiana scored just three points over one 9-minute span of the second half. Indiana shot just 24 percent from the field in the second half and finished at 31 percent.

"Their defense was really pressuring us," Braun said. "It was hard to get into a rhythm."

The Buckeyes own a 43-20 lead in the series with Indiana. They are 26-5 in Columbus and have won the last six meetings on their home court.

Trebilcock played only nine minutes in the Buckeyes' 52-44 win at Michigan on Thursday night because of knee problems, but was in the starting lineup against Indiana and contributed five points, three rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes.

"Tonight a good team beat a good team," Legette-Jack said. "The good thing about it is, we get to play again."

The rematch is Feb. 22 in Bloomington, Ind.