Houser scores 18 as Boilermakers beat Ohio State 63-61, snap Buckeyes’ 12-game win streak

Houser leads Purdue past No. 4 Ohio State

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Freshman guard K.K. Houser scored a career-high 18 points, and Purdue handed No. 4 Ohio State its first conference loss, 63-61 on Monday night.

Sam Ostarello, another freshman, added 14 points and seven rebounds for the Boilermakers (10-10, 5-4 Big Ten).

Ohio State’s Samantha Prahalis missed an open layup at the buzzer that would have forced overtime. Her chance to tie was set up when Purdue’s Brittany Rayburn missed a free throw with 7.6 seconds left, the only free throw the Boilermakers missed in 15 tries.

Jantel Lavender led Ohio State with 17 points and 10 rebounds, but she shot 6 for 18 from the field. Brittany Johnson scored 16 points and Prahalis added 11 for the Buckeyes (20-2, 8-1), whose 12-game win streak was snapped.

The Buckeyes jumped out to a 16-0 lead.

Johnson made three consecutive 3-pointers to tie her season scoring average in the first two minutes. The Buckeyes held the Boilermakers scoreless for the first 6:40 as Purdue missed its first 10 shots.

Houser helped the Boilermakers settle down. Her three-point play cut Ohio State’s lead to 26-23. The Buckeyes led 32-29 at halftime.

Purdue twice took one-point leads in the early minutes of the second half, but the Boilermakers went cold, and Johnson hit another three to put the Buckeyes up 44-37 with 13 minutes to play.

A three-point play by Rayburn tied the score at 48 with just under eight minutes to play, and a three-point play by Houser one minute later gave the Boilermakers a 51-48 lead.

A putback by Ostarello with just over a minute left gave the Boilermakers a 61-56 lead. The teams traded unsuccessful possessions before Ohio State’s Sarah Schulze was fouled with 16.4 seconds left. She made both free throws to make it 61-58.

Houser got fouled with 13.2 seconds to play, and she made both free throws to push Purdue’s lead to 63-58.

Prahalis quickly answered with a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game with 7.8 seconds to go.

The Buckeyes fouled Rayburn immediately and sent her to the free throw line. She missed the first free throw, and Ohio State rebounded to set up the final sequence.