Published: Monday, December 4, 2006
OSU rallies for win
The sixth-ranked Buckeyes were 11 points behind in the second half.
COLUMBUS (AP) — No. 6 Ohio State almost flunked during finals week.
Jessica Davenport and Marscilla Packer scored 25 points each and Brandie Hoskins added 23 Sunday for the Buckeyes, who rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to beat Washington 84-79.
Ohio State was inefficient on offense and sloppy on the boards, and coach Jim Foster wondered if his team was distracted by exams.
"We played like it was finals week. I'll never understand that as long as I live — I guess probably because I did so well on finals I didn't have to worry about it," the coach joked. "But it seems to be an interesting phenomenon."
Seventh straight win
The Buckeyes (7-0) are off to their best start since going 10-0 in 2000-01. But it wasn't easy this time. The Huskies (3-4) led for a 32-minute span until Hoskins' three-point play with 2:05 remaining put Ohio State ahead to stay, 76-74.
"I wasn't worried," Hoskins said. "It's about maturing. Maybe if we were freshmen — we've all been through something like that. It's about confidence and having heart and believing in your teammates."
Packer hit four foul shots in the final 31 seconds to maintain the lead.
"We saw the score. We knew what we had to do," Packer said. "[We were] not getting second shots, boxing out — all the little things we talk about. We knew if we stayed together we could come back."
Cameo Hicks had 29 points and Cheri Craddock 11 for the Huskies. Emily Florence added five points and 11 assists.
The Huskies led 64-53 with 10:30 remaining. At that point, they held a 25-17 rebounding edge over the taller Buckeyes and had forced 17 turnovers.
But Ohio State had only two turnovers the rest of the way.
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