COLUMBUS, Ohio - Sparked by a heady defensive play from freshman Paige Stought (Pickerington, OH) for the second straight contest, Ohio Dominican women's basketball team rallied late to put away Ursuline, 69-63, in its home opener Saturday evening at Alumni Hall.

With the win, the Panthers start the year 2-0 for the first time since the 2007-08 campaign, while the Arrows fall to 1-3 on the young season.

Leading 62-60 with 64 ticks remaining, Stought followed her missed jumper by drawing a flagrant foul on the Ursuline rebound and connecting on the ensuing two free throws. With ODU retaining possession, senior Meredith Fox (Springboro, OH) lined up her career-best 10th field goal of the evening to give the Panthers a six point cushion with 50 seconds left. 

Freshman Kacee Hockenberry (Haviland, OH) added two free throws and senior Abby Glover (Centerville, OH) added one in the closing seconds for the Panthers' final tally. 

Ursuline finished the game 25-of-55 (45.5 percent) and 9-of-20 (45.0 percent) on three-pointers, but the ODU defense forced the Arrows into 27 turnovers, turning them into 22 points at the other end.

Fox paced the Panthers off the bench for the second straight game with a new career high of 27 points, shooting 10-of-15 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc, to go along with a career-best four assists.

Glover followed her career-best 14-rebound effort on Tuesday with a team-high nine boards. She also added 21 points, one shy of her collegiate-high set against Marian in 2008, going 7-of-16 overall and 6-of-8 at the charity stripe.

The last time ODU had a pair of 20-point scorers in the same game was on Feb. 13, 2010 against Lake Erie as Summer Hale and Kirsten Ruen went for 30 and 23, respectively.

The Panthers are back on the hardwood at 7 p.m. next Wednesday, Nov. 23 at Molloy as part of the team's Thanksgiving break trip to New York. ODU closes the trip against the New York Institute of Technology at noon on Friday.

Contact: Bryan Desch
deschb@ohiodominican.edu