Ohio State's women's basketball team found its comfort zone early Thursday night.
The Buckeyes jumped out to an early lead and turned in its best defensive effort of the season as Ohio State defeated ASU 67-52 Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Junior Ameryst Alston and freshman Alexa Hart scored 20 points each to lead the Buckeyes, who held ASU to just 32.8 percent shooting in the game.
Ohio State led by as much as 27 points with just more than 14 minutes to play before the Red Wolves put together runs of 10-0 and 12-2 to cut the lead to 61-48 with 6:40 remaining. But ASU couldn't catch the Buckeyes down the stretch.
Aundrea Gamble scored 12 of her team-high 16 points in the second half, but she was the only Red Wolves players with at least 10 points.
"We faced zone for the first time all year and it was tough for us," ASU Coach Brian Boyer said. "They make it difficult because of their size inside and because of how long they are, and they make it tough to get a shot off and block shots.
"We did not handle that very well, and things snowballed from there."
Ohio State opened the game by outscoring ASU 11-2 as the Buckeyes forced the Red Wolves into poor shot selection from the outside. After making its initial basket, ASU went 0 of 7 from the field and was held scoreless for more than five minutes.
Hanna Qedan ended the drought with a three-pointer to pull ASU within 11-5, and Brittney Gill cut the deficit to 19-12 with 8:14 to go in the half.
The Buckeyes responded with a 12-0 run to push the advantage to 31-12 with 3:55 remaining, with Hart and Alston scoring four points each in that stretch. ASU was 0 for 5 from the floor and had 6 turnovers during that stretch.
ASU's Lauren Bradshaw knocked down a jumper to end the run, but Ohio State (6-4) scored the final five points of the half to take a 36-16 lead into the break..
ASU gave up 3 three-pointers to open the second half and take a 53-26 lead, but the Red Wolves (3-3) slowly began to work their way back into the game.
Gamble sparked a 10-0 run with a layup and Jessica Flanery capped the streak with back-to-back three-pointers that cut the deficit to 53-36. Gamble sparked another run later in the half that cut the Buckeyes' lead to 61-48, but Ohio State regrouped and held off the Red Wolves over the final five minutes to secure the victory.
"We improved in the second half in our offense in handling the zone," Boyer said. "Our movement was better and our shots were better, but unfortunately we had already dug ourselves too big of hole in the first half to recover from."
ASU plays Kansas at 2 p.m. Central on Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.
Sports on 12/12/2014