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

COLUMBUS — No one said it was going to be easy.

Ohio State’s men’s basketball team on Thursday went to the locker room at halftime on the downside of the score for only the fourth time this season.

The Buckeyes at one point went six minutes without a field goal. They were an extremely mediocre 15 of 25 from the free throw line.

But through it all, the top-ranked team in the nation survived a 62-53 victory over visiting Michigan for its 23rd consecutive win of the season in front of a sellout crowd of 18,809 in Value City Arena.

"We know everybody is going to come after us," said sophomore William Buford, who fought through an upset stomach for 13 points. "We take every team’s best shot."

And still emerge game after game as the victor.

There’s a line of thought out there that the Buckeyes would be best off to lose a game prior to the arrival of March Madness so as to perhaps alleviate a little pressure. Don’t count Coach Thad Matta among that group.

"No, No," Matta said. "I love to win."

Even if things are getting more snug for the Buckeyes, who have won six of their last eight games by five points or fewer.

The game’s big swing occurred early in the second half, courtesy of a 12-2 run by the Buckeyes that turned 34-32 deficit into a 44-36 advantage.

After Michigan’s Jordan Morgan hit a basket, OSU freshman Aaron Craft made a spinning reverse layup. David Lighty added a putback and then Buford hit a smooth triple from the corner for a 43-36 lead.

Lighty split a pair of free throws to complete the run.

While the Wolverines (13-10, 3-7) answered back with a mini run of its own, they never took the lead again.

"In the second half, we just took our intensity to another level," said Sullinger, who had 19 points and 15 rebounds.

It was his 10th double-double of the season.

"We know that it’s Michigan and they were going to give their toughest game," Sullinger continued. "We knew about the rivalry. We just had to take it to another level."

The Wolverines were the team hitting at a higher level in the first half. After the Buckeyes scored the first seven points within the first two minutes of the game, Coach John Beilein’s team regained its composure, but more importantly regained the tempo.

Michigan took a 26-23 lead at the half on a layup by Tim Hardaway Jr.
The Buckeyes shot a miserable 36 percent (9 of 25) from the field in the first 20 minutes, including 25 percent (2 of 8) from the 3-point line.

What stood out the most was OSU’s 10 turnovers at intermission.

I told them we can win the game," Beilein said. "’You’re up in the game and you can play with these guys.’"

Until OSU’s big second-half run.

Once again, the Buckeyes struggled from the free throw line; not just down the stretch, but for the entire game. Sullinger, who along with Jon Diebler played the entire game, was 5 of 11 from the free throw line, while Lighty was 5 of 8.
Diebler and Lighty each had 9 points, with Diebler hitting a 3-pointer for the 39th straight game.

Michigan got a 15-point effort from Hardaway Jr., prompting Beilein to say, "for him to score 15 with David Lighty on him, he had a good day."

Darius Morris, who Matta considers the most improved player in the conference, had 12, with Jordan Morgan scoring 10.

Still, the undefeated trek of the Buckeyes churns on, with Opportunity No. 24 coming Sunday at Minnesota.

Ohio State, who is 10-0 in the conference, has not started 11-0 in league play since doing so in both 1960 and 1962 when the Buckeyes won 11 in a row.

"There’s great players (in college basketball) and there’s great coaches," Matta said. "To be sitting here with 23-0 and 10-0 in the Big Ten is something else."

courtesy of John Kampf

courtesy of The Associated Press

Upper Sandusky graduate Jon Diebler matched an Ohio State record with nine 3-pointers, scoring a career-high 29 points and leading the second-ranked Buckeyes past Florida Gulf Coast 83-55 on Wednesday night.

Diebler, who has now made a school-best 291 shots behind the arc, shot 9-for-14 on 3s.

William Buford became the 47th Buckeye player to reach the 1,000-point career mark, finishing with 17 points. Jared Sullinger added 11 for Ohio State (9-0).
Chase Fieler had 12 points and Anthony Banks 10 for the Eagles (2-6), playing their first game after an 11-day break.

Diebler made three 3-pointers in an 11-0 run in the first half that put the Buckeyes in command.

His nine 3-pointers were a Value City Arena record. He matched the Ohio State record held by Jay Burson.

The Buckeyes took control early and never let up, thanks to Diebler.

The Eagles were intent on preventing Sullinger, who scored a school freshman record 40 points last week against IUPUI, from beating them. As a result, they tried to pack the middle as much as possible.

Sullinger wasn’t a factor, picking up two fouls and playing only 9 minutes in the first 20 minutes while scoring just two points.

But Diebler hit 5 of 7 3-pointers as the Buckeyes hit more shots behind the arc (7) by halftime than FGCU had total baskets (6). Ohio State was on top 42-16 at the break and substituted freely in both halves.

The Buckeyes scored the first seven points over the opening 2½ minutes. After Fieler hit a 3 to put the Eagles on the board, Ohio State ran off the next 11 points.
With his second 3 of the game, Diebler moved past Indiana’s A.J. Guyton (1997-2000) into seventh place all-time in Big Ten 3-pointers made.

The second half was never close as the Buckeyes tried to blend in their six freshmen with four veteran starters.

When ranked in the top 10, Ohio State moved to 249-56 with wins in 40 of its last 42 games. Against unranked teams at home, coach Thad Matta’s Buckeyes teams are now 93-2.

The Eagles dropped to 0-5 all-time against the Big Ten, losing earlier this season at Indiana 88-60. In the four previous losses, the average margin of defeat was 24 points.

Kevin Cantinol played in his first game for FGCU after transferring from Mississippi.

It was the first meeting ever between the teams.

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