No. 7 Ohio State 73, Iowa 67

12/31/2006 6:04 PM

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) -Ohio State's Jessica Davenport had another big game at Iowa to stave off the Hawkeyes' upset bid.

The senior center scored 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting and collected 11 rebounds to lead seventh-ranked Ohio State to a 73-67 victory Sunday, one year after torching Iowa for 34 points, 16 rebounds, and six assists in the same arena.

``I'm glad this is the last time we'll have to see her in Carver-Hawkeye Arena,'' Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said. ``She did another tremendous job with shooting well and getting boards.''

Marscilla Packer added 23 for the Buckeyes (11-1), who rallied in the second half on 67 percent shooting.

Ohio State trailed 32-31 at halftime of its Big Ten opener, but Davenport scored 16 points after the break and the Buckeyes outlasted Iowa (9-6).

The majority of her buckets came against a zone defense, which Ohio State coach Jim Foster said Iowa applied more frequently than any other opponent this season.

``I just think we were discombobulated,'' he said of the early play. ``We have two freshmen point guards. Sometimes they play like freshmen, and I think once they got more comfortable, we got more comfortable.''

Iowa pulled within a point with just under 10 minutes left, but a 7-0 run by the Buckeyes - which included a layup and 3-pointer by Packer - made it 61-53.

Kristi Smith answered with a three-point play, but Packer hit another 3-pointer to push Ohio State's lead to 64-56. The Hawkeyes got within three when Smith curled around the right baseline and made a long jumper to bring the home fans to their feet.

But Packer responded again with a deep shot of her own with less than two minutes remaining.

Smith sank a 3-pointer from near the top of the key with just 90 seconds to go, but Davenport caught a lob pass and put in a layup to answer.

Iowa didn't score again.

``When we got that lead, it was kind of like, 'We're going to keep this lead and not let it go away,''' Davenport said. ``So we really picked up our defense after that.''

On paper, the matchup appeared a laugher. Ohio State entered the game ranked first in the Big Ten in scoring offense (78.7), scoring margin (+22.5), and assists (18.91), among other categories, while Iowa was last in the conference in scoring defense (69.5.), turnover margin (-3.36), and rebounding (36.9).

Yet the Hawkeyes' rattled off a 10-0 run midway through the first half, led by Wendy Ausdemore's five points, to push their advantage to 23-19.

Along with the active zone defense, good ball movement kept the Hawkeyes in the game - they finished with 23 assists and 13 turnovers.

Foster said he wasn't surprised to take one of the Hawkeyes' best shots of the season.

``I've been doing this too long, to ever be disappointed with a win,'' Foster said.

Davenport, who came up just two points shy of tying a season high, led the Buckeyes in their first game back from an 11-day layoff after topping then-No. 3 Oklahoma on Dec. 20.

Iowa had four players in double-figures, led by Smith with a career-high 21 points, seven assists, and five steals. Megan Skouby added a season-high 19.

``I feel like we could have beat a lot of teams tonight,'' Bluder said. ``Ohio State wasn't one of them.''