Jan. 28, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Buckeyes' Jantel Lavender scored 22 points and No. 19 Ohio State used a first-half burst to zip past Penn State 89-53 on Monday night, handing coach Jim Foster his 650th career victory.
Marscilla Packer added 12 points and seven assists and Ashlee Trebilcock had 11 points for the Buckeyes (16-4, 7-2 Big Ten).
Foster ran his record to 650-261 (.714) in 30 seasons, making him the 13th coach to win that many games in Division I. He is 146-36 in six seasons at Ohio State after going 256-99 in 11 years at Vanderbilt and 248-126 in 13 seasons at Saint Joseph's.
His teams have won 20 or more games in 21 of the last 23 years.
The Buckeyes are just 16-30 overall and 10-17 in Big Ten games against Penn State, but have won the last eight meetings. The victory kept them in first place in the conference by a game.
Tyra Grant had 16 points and Brianne O'Rourke 12 for the Nittany Lions (13-8, 4-5), who have lost four of five.
Ahead 10-8 after the opening 4 1/2 minutes, the Buckeyes sprinted away with a quick 11-2 run and the lead never fell below nine points again.
Lavender started the spurt with a layup off an assist from Tamarah Riley before Packer hit a 3 from the right corner. After Rashida Mark scored for the Nittany Lions, Packer hit a pull-up 15-footer and another jumper from the left wing. She then assisted on a Lavender bucket that made it 21-10.
The Buckeyes hit 20 of their 30 shots from the field in the opening half while Penn State struggled to make 30 percent (7-of-23).
They led by as many as 36 points in the second half.