Westlake’s Kalpana Beach scored 12 points for No. 2 seed Ohio State as the Buckeyes held off a late charge to beat Michigan 57-48 in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten women’s tournament on Friday.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Westlake’s Kalpana Beach started and scored six points, while Tayler Hill scored 16 of her game-high 25 points in the second half and No. 11 Ohio State beat Charlotte 88-58 on Monday as the Buckeyes improved to their best start in program history in the NCAA era.

Samantha Prahalis added 19 points and reserve forward Darryce Moore finished with 10 points and seven rebounds for the Buckeyes (11-0), who have won 22 of 23 dating to last season.

The Buckeyes showed little signs of fatigue from a red-eye flight Saturday night after their 77-75 win at California. They jumped out to a 44-14 lead on the heels of a 17-0 run in the opening half.

The Buckeyes have little time to rest as they take to the court Tuesday against Southern Utah. Tip is set for 2 p.m. at Value City Arena.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Westlake graduate Kalpana Beach scored 10 points in her Ohio State debut, and Samantha Prahalis and Tayler Hill paced the Buckeyes with 17 points apiece to lead them to a 78-51 season-opening win over Tennessee State on Sunday at Value City Arena.

Ohio State, the youngest team in the Big Ten this season, got big contributions from a couple freshmen, with 10 points apiece coming from Beach and Raven Ferguson off the bench. Sophomore Ashley Adams added 10 points and six blocked shots.

The Buckeyes, who won their 17th straight season opener, are back in action this Friday, Nov. 18 when they play host to Temple at VCA.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Photo courtesy of Morning Journal/Anna Norris

Westlake's Kalpana Beach changed her mind and has now verbally chosen Ohio State to continue her basketball career.

Beach, whose in her senior year at Westlake, had originally gave an oral commitment to Notre Dame, but has chosen to stay closer to home.


Beach was an All-Ohio Second Teamer last year after averaging 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Westlake's Kalpana Beach, a junior, has verbally accepted a full athletic scholarship from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, to play basketball and participate in track.

Kalpana, who averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and 2.5 steals per game as a sophomore, was named to the Southwestern Conference First Team.

In track, Kalpana was the SWC champion in the high jump the last two seasons. She even placed seventh in the state as a freshman and fourth as a sophomore. She holds the Westlake school record of 5-feet-10 inches in the high jump.

swalker@MorningJournal.com