Life without senior point guard Samantha Prahalis wasn’t supposed to begin for the Ohio State women’s basketball team for another nine months.

But because of a visit from an intestinal bug, the ninth-ranked Buckeyes had a preview of next season last night and came through nicely while making Indiana feel a little nauseated during a 75-54 victory at Value City Arena.

The victory allowed Ohio State (23-3, 10-3) to stay a half-game behind first-place Penn State (21-5, 11-3) in the Big Ten standings heading into a game on Monday in State College, Pa.

Ohio State coach Jim Foster said Prahalis, who has missed four of 130 games in four seasons, tried to play.

“She was just too drained,” he said. “There was no juice there. There’s something going around and she got something.”

Junior guards Tayler Hill and Amber Stokes more than took up the slack. Hill’s 27 points included 9-of-11 shooting from the field and a 7-of-8 effort from three-point range.

Stokes had 14 points and a career-high seven assists. Kalpana Beach was 6 of 7 from the field, scored 13 points and helped the Buckeyes to a 47-29 advantage on the glass with eight rebounds.

“We were fine,” Hill said. “It’s different (without Prahalis). I don’t think it’s strange. It’s just different. She usually runs the point.”

Hill opened the game at the point and helped the Buckeyes to a 20-6 lead. But 14 first-half turnovers helped the Hoosiers (5-21, 0-13) cut the deficit to 34-27 at halftime.

“I think in the first half, people were trying to make plays,” Hill said. “Instead of reversing the ball, we had some people try to make the play, try to be a Sam. But if we just make the second (pass), the layups and open shots will come.”

In the second half, the second pass happened again and again as the Buckeyes pulled away from the overmatched Hoosiers.

Beach’s play was a key reason. She picked up two fouls in the first three minutes of the first half and watched the next 17 minutes from the bench. Beach scored eight points in the lane over the first six minutes in the second half and reached double figures in points for the first time since she suffered a concussion on Dec. 4 at Oklahoma.

Stokes also penetrated Indiana’s zone and found teammates for open shots six times. Late in the game, she hit an open Hill for back-to-back three-pointers.

“The way they play, (Stokes) got into gaps, she got inside the defense,” Foster said. “And she drew them and then she made a kick. I thought Beach was terrific. In fact, the post players en masse did good things.”

Freshman Raven Ferguson started for Prahalis and committed five turnovers in the first half and didn’t score.

“I was pretty direct with Raven at halftime,” Foster said. “And I want to see how she responds.

“She’s got to retool and change her game a little bit to accommodate college basketball. I thought in the second half she did a great job of that.”

Ferguson scored six points in the second half and did not commit another turnover. Two of her baskets were on fast breaks, a category Ohio State dominated 16-0.

Aulani Sinclair led Indiana with 23 points.

jmassie@dispatch.com