Rachel Sheffer

Updated 10:35 p.m.

Step aside, All-American. Thursday night belonged to Rachel Sheffer.

The Michigan sophomore center scored 15 of her career-high 23 points in the second half, including two key post plays down the stretch, as the Wolverines’ women’s basketball team rallied to win 69-66 at No. 24 Ohio State.

Giving up three inches and plenty of experience in a matchup with Ohio State star Jantel Lavender, Sheffer took her offense outside (hitting three of four 3-point attempts) while helping to limit the Buckeye All-American to 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting.

“I was really frustrated,” Lavender said. “I think … when I did have some good looks, it didn’t get there. It was kind of frustrating when you can’t do what you like doing.”

Sheffer’s traditional three-point play with 1:22 remaining pulled the Wolverines (13-7, 6-2 Big Ten) within 66-65. And after an Ohio State (13-7, 4-4) missed shot, Michigan went back to Sheffer in the paint.

She was fouled and hit two free throws with 29 seconds left to give Michigan its first lead since early in the first half. Ohio State led by as many as 14 points.

The Buckeyes played for the last shot and Samantha Prahalis’ off-balance jumper missed the rim with 4 seconds remaining. Ohio State’s Alison Jackson grabbed the rebound, however, and was fouled on a put-back attempt.

Jackson missed both free throws, Michigan’s Jenny Ryan was fouled as she cradled the rebound and she would seal the win by making her two free-throw attempts.

Brittany Johnson missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Michigan, which snapped a 14-game losing streak to Buckeyes on Dec. 30, swept the season series for the first time in program history.

Combined with league-leading Michigan State's 66-64 loss at Iowa Thursday, the Wolverines moved into a three-way tie for first place. Wisconsin, idle on Thursday, is also 6-2.

“Every win is a big win in this conference and road wins are difficult,” Michigan coach Kevin Borseth said. “You’re going to have to come out in every game. At this point, I don’t think anyone is that much better than anyone else.”

The Wolverines couldn’t have started much hotter, hitting five of six shots from 3-point range in the first five minutes to take a 15-12 lead.

But Prahalis was the story of the first half. The junior guard made all seven of her shots in the first half, including five 3-pointers. Her 3-pointer at the first half buzzer gave the Buckeyes a 46-33 halftime lead.

“Prahalis was the ‘X-factor.’ She was just hitting shots. She was hitting them stepping back and was taking it right at them,” Borseth said. “She was just hot as a pistol.”

Ohio State looked poised to pull away early in the second half before Michigan went on a 10-0 run that cut its deficit to to 49-45 with 13:54 to play. But the Wolverines would never lead until Sheffer’s late free throws.

Michigan’s rally was assisted by some second-half struggles by the Buckeyes. After making 57.7 percent (15-of-26) of its shots in the first half, Ohio State made 26.9 percent (7-of-26) in the second half.

Veronica Hicks scored 14 points, including a 3-pointer with five minutes left to pull the Wolverines within two points.

Michigan finished 10 of 22 from 3-point range, but Ohio State coach Jim Foster said it was the Wolverines play inside - and the Buckeyes’ lack of an inside game - that led to the victory.

“We were not involved in the post game. The difference in what they did and what we did is they hit 10 3-point shots, but they never forgot the post game,” he said.

Prahalis finished with 25 points and six rebounds for Ohio State.

Lavender did become the Big Ten’s all-time leading rebounder during the loss. She had a game-high 14 Thursday.