Ohio State tops WVU

West Virginia’s women’s basketball team had no answer for the high-powered Ohio State offense as five Buckeyes finished in double figures to eliminate WVU from the Preseason WNIT, 92-69.

Mountaineer head coach Mike Carey said entering Thursday’s game that his team needed to find an answer for OSU’s offense.

"We came out flat. We had a good week in practice and a good shootaround, but we were the ones being attacked," Carey said. "We had a run in the first half and cut it to 10, and then had another run to cut it to 15 in the second half. But we relaxed after those."

Two-time all-Big Ten Conference Player of the Year Jantel Lavender led the way for the Buckeyes scoring 19 points and collecting eight rebounds.

Ohio State guards Tayler Hill and Samantha Prahalis each scored 14 points, with Prahalis responsible for 12 assists.

Brittany Johnson scored 13 points while Maria Moeller and Aleksandra Dobranic had 10 points and 11 points, respectively.

It is the third time this season Ohio State has scored over 91 points in a game.

"We have a ton of weapons," said Lavender. "The freshmen bring a lot of different things to the table both defensively and offensively. I love playing with a team that is so deep."

The Buckeyes rushed out to an early lead, scoring the game’s first 17 points before the Mountaineers finally got on the board with a Vanessa House lay up at the 15:36 mark to trail 17-2.

In the first five minutes of the contest, West Virginia was 0-for-6 from the floor with three turnovers.

"It was definitely not the start we wanted," Carey said. "Ohio State was more aggressive and they just outplayed us. That’s why they are No. 3 in the country."

With 6:49 remaining in the first half, West Virginia was able to cut the deficit to eight with a pair of Sarah Miles free throws.

That is as close as the Mountaineers would come, however.

Miles would finish with ten points, and seven assists in the losing effort.

Ohio State was able to go on a 17-5 run to end the first half giving it a 44-24 advantage at half time.

The Mountaineers played even with the Buckeyes in the second half, but were not able to overcome the early deficit.

WVU guard Liz Repella led all scorers with 23 points, shooting 5-for-7 from three-point range.

House scored 12 points and had six assists off the bench. It is the second straight game House has scored in double-figures.

West Virginia returns to action when it travels to Pittsburgh to play Duquesne on Nov. 24 at 7 p.m.

"We want to be more aggressive as we go forward," Carey said. "It was definitely something to build on and it was a game we wanted to play."