Northwestern
Ohio State
No. 6 Buckeyes Down 'Cats, 86-60
12/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern fought hard, but No. 6 Ohio State proved to be too much, defeating the 'Cats, 86-60, Thursday afternoon at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Freshman Dannielle Diamant (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman) paced NU with a career-best 20 points and Amy Jaeschke (Wilmette, Ill./New Trier) turned in her eighth-consecutive double-figure performance, recording 13 points. Freshmen Kendall Hackney (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) added 10 points and five rebounds for the 11-3, 2-1 Wildcats.
The two teams played evenly through the first three minutes until the Buckeyes strung together nine unanswered points to take an 11-3 lead at the 16:10 mark. Northwestern pulled to within 13-7 with 14:06 remaining and once again cut the difference to two possessions nearly a minute later on a basket by Jaeschke. Ohio State answered with a 6-0 run to double the difference to 21-11 with 10:13 remaining.
Northwestern repeatedly slashed the Buckeyes' margin to single-digits, but a jumper by All-American Jantel Lavender with just under five minutes remaining sparked a 12-0 run and gave Ohio State its largest lead of the game, a 20-point advantage with 2:33 remaining in the frame. A Brittany Orban (North Canton, Ohio/Hoover) three was NU's only score the rest of the way, and the Buckeyes held a 45-20 cushion at intermission.
It was just the second time this season that Northwestern has not held the lead at halftime. Jaeschke led NU with 10 points while Orban checked in with six. The Wildcats held the upper hand on the glass, out-rebounding OSU, 21-18.
The Buckeyes picked up right where they left off, outscoring Northwestern 13-3 in the first five minutes en route to their 15th victory of the season.
Individual highlights for the 'Cats included Jaeschke's 500th career rebound at the 5:45 mark of the first half and Diamant's career-best four triples (4-of-6 total). As a team, Northwestern out-rebounded Ohio State, 37-35.
The Wildcats are next in action on Sunday when they host Penn State in a 2 p.m. affair.
