College Basketball : Ohio State Women Top Fullerton, 76-67

With Cal State Fullerton’s women’s basketball team off to its best start in three years, it was no surprise to Coach Maryalyce Jeremiah that the Titans would be up for Tuesday’s game against ninth-ranked Ohio State.

The Buckeyes (5-0), Big Ten co-champions last season, received a scare from Fullerton before they came away with a 76-67 victory in Titan Gym.

“Everyone thought we would be blown out,” Jeremiah said. “Our kids played a hard 40 minutes.”

The Titans (4-3) stayed close in the first 20 minutes and trailed, 33-31, at the half, mainly because of Amy Torczon’s rebounding and Wendy Anae’s 10 first-half points.

The Titans outrebounded Ohio State, 23-12, in the first half and 40-26 for the game. Torczon had a game-high 17 rebounds.

After Fullerton’s Cheryl Jones hit a 15-foot jumper to open the second half, the Buckeyes scored 14 straight points to take a 47-33 lead with just more than 15 minutes remaining.

All-American forward Tracey Hall led Ohio State’s charge, scoring six of her 21 points early in the second half. Teammate Nikita Lowry led all scorers with 26 points and had 14 rebounds.

The Titans cut the lead to four points, 57-53, on a layup by Eugenia Miller with just more than seven minutes left, but Ohio State’s free-throw shooting down the stretch was the difference. The Buckeyes made 12 of 14 in the last seven minutes.

Anae led the Titans with 18 points, and Torczon added 10.