College basketball

Buckeyes knock off Rutgers

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Jessica Davenport scored 22 and No.5 Ohio State went on a late 6-0 run to beat No.4 Rutgers 52-50 Sunday, the Buckeyes' sixth win in a row.

Rutgers quickly rose in the rankings by beating No.8 Tennessee, No.4 Texas and No.1 LSU in the span of eight days in the past month.

"That was a big game," said Ohio State's Caity Matter, whose 3-pointer during the 6-0 spurt and a free throw by reserve Stephanie Blanton with 10 seconds left helped seal the win. "They've been playing so well. But that was a battle between two great teams."

Davenport went 7-for-12 from the field, including making her only 3-point attempt, and was 7-of-8 at the line. She also had seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

"We didn't have an answer for the big girl," Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer said.

The Buckeyes, leading the nation in field-goal shooting at 52.4 percent, hit 77 percent of their shots in the second half against one of the country's top defensive teams.

Matee Ajavon had 20 points to lead Rutgers, which had a seven-game winning streak snapped.

NO.2 BAYLOR 78, OKLAHOMA 68: Chameka Scott made sure the host Bears avoided consecutive losses, hitting three 3-pointers in a deciding run. The Bears, the nation's best 3-point shooting team, had made just one 3 before Scott hit from the left wing with 8:49 left for a 53-52 lead. By the time Scott made her third 3-pointer with five minutes left, Baylor led 66-56.

NO.3 LSU 76, ALABAMA 51: Seimone Augustus scored 19 in 23 minutes to lead the visiting Tigers. LSU took control quickly and pulled its starters early in the second half. LSU used 14 players and its reserves scored 32.

NO.7 N.D. 86, NO.20 PURDUE 69: Jacqueline Batteast had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Megan Duffy scored 17 of her 19 in the first half to lead visiting Notre Dame. The victory ended a four-game losing streak to Purdue. It was the 36th career double double for Batteast, tying her with Ruth Riley for second place on Notre Dame's career list.

NO.8 TENNESSEE 79, NO.17 VANDY 65: Reserve Shanna Zolman scored 20 and the visiting Vols rallied from a 15-point deficit to win their 36th straight SEC regular-season game. The streak dates to Feb.2, 2002, a loss at Vanderbilt.

NO.9 MICHIGAN ST. 62, NO.11 MINN. 49: The Spartans, off to the best start in school history, snapped the visiting Gophers' six-game winning streak. It was Michigan State's fourth consecutive win over Minnesota. Lindsay Bowen scored 18 of her 20 in the second half for the Spartans.

NO.18 GEORGIA 71, AUBURN 56: Tasha Humphrey had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the visiting Bulldogs, who made nine 3-pointers and got 15 points from Janese Hardrick and 12 apiece from Megan Darrah and Sherill Baker.

ARIZONA 84, NO.19 UCLA 73: Dee-Dee Wheeler had 19 points and a career-high 11 assists to lead the host Wildcats. Ashley Whisonant added a career-high 17 points and Shawntinice Polk had 12 points and 11 rebounds. Lisa Willis led UCLA with 24 points.

NO.21 IOWA 81, NORTHWESTERN 76: Jamie Cavey scored 29 and the visiting Hawkeyes overcame a 17-point deficit to snap a three-game losing streak.Ifeoma Okonkwo led Northwestern with 30 points.

NO.22 DePAUL 103, CHARLOTTE 64: Khara Smith had 31 points and 14 rebounds to lead the visiting Blue Demons. Smith was 13-for-19 from the field. Jenna Rubino added 24 points and five rebounds.

BLOCKS RECORD: TCU's Sandora Irvin set a Division I record with 16 blocked shots in the host Frogs' 75-34 win over UAB. She added 20 points and 18 rebounds for the first triple double in school history. Irvin broke the women's record of 15 that Amy Lundquist of Loyola Marymount set in December 1992 against Western Kentucky. TCU finished with 19 blocks to tie the record for a women's team.

[Last modified January 17, 2005, 01:06:09]