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No. 7 Ohio State wins 6th straight Big Ten title

Feb 12, 2010 - 3:54 AM By RUSTY MILLER AP Sports Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio(AP) -- No team, men's or women's, had ever won six straight Big Ten basketball titles until No. 7 Ohio State turned the trick on Thursday night.

That hallowed accomplishment meant, well, almost nothing to coach Jim Foster.

"We'll talk about it after the season," he said after the seventh-ranked Buckeyes' 75-45 victory over Purdue. "It's about the next game, it's about getting better. All the other stuff, if you take care of that, good stuff happens. We have some talented players. We have a mindset that's starting to evolve at the defensive end of the floor. That other stuff will be summer discussion."

Jantel Lavender had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and the Buckeyes (24-3, 12-2) held Purdue scoreless for more than 12 minutes to coast to the win just 17 days after the Boilermakers had shocked them 63-61.

Lavender said she and her teammates felt that the Boilermakers (13-12, 8-6) did too much talking after that upset.

"You don't want teams thinking that they can come in and contend with you," she said. "I take it personally when people (say) that they killed us or they did such-and-such to the post players or they drove on our guards or whatever. The fact that they came in here and were extra confident with a two-point win at their place, I really took that personally."

Tayler Hill added 14 points and Samantha Prahalis had nine points and 11 assists for the Buckeyes who ran their home record to 18-0 - the best in program history.

"We never want a team thinking almost like they could play with us here," Prahalis said.

No one scored in double figures for Purdue (led by KK Houser's nine points), which had two lengthy scoring droughts in the first half even before going 12:20 without scoring a point and going almost 14 minutes without a field goal over another span.

"Ohio State came ready to play today," Houser said. "They were knocking down their shots and they were getting us in transition defense."

Purdue had won two in a row and four of five but shot just 23 percent from the field and had 19 turnovers. The Buckeyes shot 57 percent in taking a 41-16 lead at the half and ended up shooting 52 percent.

"They shot 80 percent for the first 10 minutes," Boilermakers coach Sharon Versyp said. "What are you going to do?"

In the earlier loss at Purdue, the Buckeyes roared to a 16-0 lead over the first 6:40 and still lost. This time they got off to almost as fast a start and then maintained it, with Foster bringing in players off the bench and the margin mounting.

"When everyone gets involved and everyone can score and everyone can rebound, it's such a confidence builder not for just one person but the whole team," Prahalis said. "It contagious once everyone gets into the mix."

Ohio State broke out to leads of 9-2 and 26-6 and then scored the final 13 points of the half - which was extended to 21-0 when they rattled off the first eight points after the break.

"We were ready, intense, and everybody had an attitude," Hill said. "Everybody took (the loss at Purdue) personal. We wanted to make a statement, not only about that loss but also that we were a top team."

Through the first 8 minutes, the Buckeyes were 11 of 13 from the field and hit all four 3-pointers. In the opening 13:39, they were 16 of 20 from the field.

"It didn't matter what we did," Versyp said. "They were good."

The accuracy behind the arc was similar to what Ohio State showed in a come-from-behind 86-73 win at Penn State on Sunday. In that game, the Buckeyes trailed by 15 points but made a Big Ten-record 17 3-pointers (out of just 26 attempts) to power their comeback.

Ohio State improved to 126-9 at home overall in Foster's eight seasons and 99-5 since the start of the 2004-05 season.

The Buckeyes, and Foster, have everything going their way. All five starters are underclassmen, there are several top reserves returning and there's another bumper crop of talent in the latest recruiting class.

"(Jim) is an incredible coach, they've got great recruits and Ohio State's a pretty good place to sell," Versyp said. "You have to get good players and then you have to coach your players. They've done a great job."