OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. – Behind its best shooting performance thus far, Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team continued its hot start to the year as the Panthers concluded their Thanksgiving break trip with a tough, back-and-forth 77-73 win against the New York Institute of Technology on Friday afternoon.

For the fourth straight contest, the veterans led the Panthers as seniors Abby Glover (Centerville, OH) and Meredith Fox (Springboro, OH) finished with 19 points apiece and Glover added 12 rebounds for her second successive double-double. Glover did most of her damage in the first half with 15 points, while Fox took over the reins in the second with 14 as ODU improved to 4-0 and 3-0 on the road. NYIT dropped to 2-3 with its first home setback.

The Panthers jumped out 10-3 in the game's first 3:46 as Fox and classmate Katy Rasor (Grove City, OH) splashed a pair of treys and Glover put in back-to-back lay-ups. The Bears countered with a 22-7 scoring spree that gave them their largest lead of the afternoon at 25-17 at the 7:08 mark of the first.

Unfazed, ODU came right back with a 17-2 burst of its own to reclaim the lead at 34-27 with 2:21 to go as sophomores Christina Pentaudi (Dayton, OH) and Katelyn Stuckey (Millersburg, OH) sandwiched the run with their first triples of the game. With eight of the half's final 12 points, the Bears closed to 38-35 at the break.

Following five lead changes and a tie over the first 4:47 of the second, the Panthers appeared to take control of the game as Fox sparked an 8-0 spurt with a jumper and capped it with a three-pointer from the left wing, but NYIT rallied once again, this time with a 10-1 run to go back ahead 58-56.

With 8:15 remaining, ODU put together the run of the day as freshman Paige Stought (Pickerington, OH) tallied all seven of her points in a 3:45 span that saw the Panthers flip the two-point deficit into a seven-point advantage with 3:50 left. Seven makes at the charity stripe over the final two minutes, including four by Fox sealed the road win.

ODU finished the day 23-of-49 (46.9 percent) overall, 7-of-19 (36.8 percent) from behind the arc and 24-of-32 (75.0 percent) at the line, including 19-of-24 in the second. Glover went 7-of-9 from the field, while Fox was 6-of-13 and 3-of-6 from long range. Stuckey followed her 17-rebound effort on Wednesday with nine boards and a career-high 12 points, going 7-of-10 at the charity stripe. Pentaudi also chipped in seven points and six boards.

"We have found ways to win and today was no different," commented head coach Nathan Bellman. "Today was a total team effort; we hit some timely baskets, made our free throws in the second half and came up with some crucial rebounds. I could not be happier for the team and of course, a win always makes for a smoother trip back home."

Cierra Baker led the Bears with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting and 12 boards, while Nikki Jo Rotolo added 18.

ODU returns home next Thursday, Dec. 1 as USA Today/ESPN preseason No. 21 Grand Valley State (Mich.) visits Alumni Hall for the 5:30 p.m. conference opener.

Contact: Bryan Desch
deschb@ohiodominican.edu