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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said his team accomplished what it set out to do Saturday in a blowout win over less-talented NIU Brooklyn: The Buckeyes improved.Sierra Calhoun scored 22 points and Kelsey Mitchell added 21 as No. 7 Ohio State routed the Northeast Conference team 113-54.Obviously, today was going to be more about us, and how we handled this game and this situation, McGuff said. Because were really trying to focus on ourselves and getting better, and we did that. If we were going make it about the score or something like that, then we were going to get distracted and caught up in some things that we shouldnt be doing.The more aggressive Buckeyes had 18 steals and with a size advantage inside, outrebounded the Blackbirds 56 to 30.Makayla Waterman added 15 points and nine rebounds for Ohio State, and Kiara Lewis had 12 points. Tori McCoy had nine points and 12 rebounds.I think we played good as a team, Calhoun said. I felt like the ball was moving a lot more than it normally does. I feel like were getting better as a team gradually as the games go on.Drew Winter led LIU Brooklyn with 12 points, and Brianna Farris Drew had 10. The Blackbirds are winless in their first three starts.Mitchell, an All-American and arguably the Big Tens best player, was her usual hot-shooting self, going 8 for 11 from the floor, hitting four 3-pointers and dishing five assists.With a front-court size advantage of a couple inches, Ohio State (3-1) dominated under the basket, logging 62 points in the paint compared with zero by the Blackbirds. Ohio State shot 50.4 percent from the floor, while LIU Brooklyn made just 31.5 percent of its shots.Ohio States 11-0 run to begin the game set the tone. The Buckeyes led 32-8 after the first period on the strength of Duke transfer Calhouns 5 for 5 shooting from beyond the arc. The Blackbirds played better in the second period but still trailed 59-20 at the half. Ohio State led by 53 after three quarters.My team did a great job of finding me after they saw I was hitting all those 3s, Calhoun said. Once that first shot goes in your confidence goes up, and I just kept shooting.LIU Brooklyn coach Stephanie Oliver said there were bright spots for her team.It prepared us for our conference, she said. Look, we can score 54 points on a good basketball team. Our out-of-bounds plays work, our offense works. If we can execute against them and get better against them, its really going to help us down the line.BIG PICTURELIU Brooklyn: After their third straight loss by double-digits to open the season, the Blackbirds have much room for improvement.Ohio State: The Buckeyes lighter preconference schedule continues, giving them a chance to work out the bugs before the tougher games begin. They did what they were supposed to do against a less-talented team.Playing teams like this helps us out executing plays, doing the little things, making nice passes, posting up well, McCoy said. It was a learning experience for all of us.INJURY REPORTOhio State forward Stephanie Mavunga got the day off because of what McGuff described as general soreness.POLL IMPLICATIONSOhio State likely will stay put at or around No. 7.UP NEXTLIU Brooklyn: Plays University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Friday night at the TD Bank Classic in Burlington, Vermont.Ohio State: Travels to Fort Myers to play Florida Gulf Coast.---Follow Mitch Stacy at http://twitter.com/mitchstacy Cheap Jerseys From China . Nine days before the opening ceremony, organizing committee chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said Wednesday that Sochi is "fully ready" and will deliver safe, friendly and well-run games that defy the grim reports that have overshadowed preparations. Cheap Chicago White Sox Jerseys . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. http://www.jerseyscheapmlb.com/ . The judges scored it 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 for Jones (19-1). It was the champions closest call. Despite the loss, it was a remarkable show by the confident Swedish challenger, who had the best of the early rounds and then hung on in the fourth and fifth. Cheap New York Mets Jerseys . 9. Price, heading to the 2014 Olympics for Canada, was named the First Star after posting wins in three starts with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage. Cheap Cleveland Indians Jerseys . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left.With a new management team in place and the addition of a couple of key role players, Raptors head coach Dwane Casey is hopeful his team can make the jump into a playoff position in 2013-14. Speaking on TSN 1050s Macko & Cauz show on Tuesday, the third-year bench boss is excited to see how his new pieces blend with the teams young core. “We needed toughness inside to go along with Jonas Valanciunas), Amir Johnson and Aaron Gray and we brought in Tyler Hansbrough, who I think our fans will be excited about.” To go along with the former Pacers power forward, the team addressed its perimeter shooting need via the Andrea Bargnani deal and in free agency. “We needed three-point shooting and we got Steve Novak and Austin Daye, who is a young untapped talented player who has three-point shooting ability.” Following a 17-32 start, the Raptors played the rest of the season one game over .500, in part because of a renewed emphasis on the defensive end. “We will get back to defence and let the offence take care of itself,” Casey said. “I thought Masai (Ujiri), Jeff (Weltman) and our management team did an excellent job of bringing in the type of players that will fit our needs.” Still, the team finished four games out of a playoff spot and new president and CEO Tim Leiweke decided to make a change in the basketball operations department, replacing former GM Bryan Colanagelo with Ujiri.dddddddddddd Casey said Ujiri and Leiweke operate differently than Coloangelo in that the former GM took a more hands-on approach than the current structure. “Bryans management style is more hands on. Hes there every day, hes involved…Theres nothing wrong with that, its just a different management style.” Casey is confident where the team is headed, but noted that the expectation of a playoff spot last season may have been too unrealistic. “I thought we put the cart before the horse last year in talking about the playoffs too soon, we were still building…Adding Rudy, adding some of the pieces we have now, weve accelerated that building.” Casey mentioned that while the team is positioned to make a playoff push this season, the overall focus is still on growing and developing the talented core they have in place. “We have good young talent thats getting better, but at the same time we want to win. We owe it to our fans, we owe it to our organization to put our best foot forward and go out to compete to win.” ' ' '