Kelly Mazzante put up a three-pointer with 7:30 remaining in the game. The shot came up short, but it popped up in the air and kissed high off the glass and rim before dropping through the net.

The shot was a microcosm of the game as the No. 14 Penn State women's basketball team steamrolled No. 23 Ohio State, 68-53.

The Lady Lions (17-5, 7-1 Big Ten) could no do wrong in the first half, shooting 60.7 percent from the field. Through the first eight minutes of the half the Lions opened up a 16-4 lead and coasted the rest of the way. The victory over the Buckeyes (15-4, 6-2) gave the Lions their 14th straight home win.

"I think it's always important for us to come out hard in the first five minutes," junior Jessica Brungo said.

The Lions' defense held the Buckeyes to a season-low 16 points in the first half. Ohio State senior forward Courtney Coleman, the nation's leader in field goal percentage at nearly 75 percent, went just 2-for-8 and could manage six points for the game. Coleman was shut down by sophomore Hazel Joseph, who poured in career-highs with 12 points and eight rebounds on a perfect 6-for-6 performance from the field. Ohio State women's basketball coach Jim Foster said that if Joseph could evolve into a player who plays that well consistently, Penn State could have found itself another weapon.

Another strong defensive effort was given by Mazzante, who held sophomore guard Caity Matter to eight points as she was able to shoot the ball just five times. Matter had come in averaging 16 points to lead the Buckeyes.

"We obviously made some great defensive decisions preparing for this game," Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland said. "The first half we carried out those defensive decisions very, very well."

The Montoursville native also had a good day on the offensive end, connecting on four three-pointers, including the shot that touched every part of the basket. On that bucket she broke Lisa Shepherd's record for three-point field goals in a career. The former mark was 230 and Mazzante now has 231. Mazzante finished with 26 points.

The Lions got a hot start from Brungo, who scored six of the Lions' first 14 points and was able to score in a variety of ways early on. She scored 11 of her 12 points in the first half.

Sophomore Jess Strom had nine points and six assists to make up for an uncharacteristically poor shooting game from sophomore Tanisha Wright, who went 2-for-10 from the field.

The Buckeyes made a half-hearted run at the Lions in the second half, but the Lions wouldn't surrender and the lead was no less than 14 at any point in the second half.

The Lions have Indiana next on their schedule, and they play the Hoosiers Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Bryce Jordan Center.

"We have Indiana coming in Sunday and that's another team we only play once," Mazzante said. "So it's just one game at a time for us and that's exactly how we are going to do it and keep this going."