TIFFIN, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team grabbed the early lead Saturday afternoon at Tiffin and never trailed the rest of the way as the Panthers hung on for the 70-66 road win, snapping a three-game skid and earning the season split with the Dragons.

The Panthers conclude their inaugural season at the Division II level with a 7-19 overall record and 5-14 mark in the GLIAC, while the Dragons, the eighth seed in the upcoming GLIAC tournament, fall to 15-11 and 9-10 in the conference.

With 2:11 left in the game, Glover connected on a crucial three-pointer to give the Panthers a six-point cushion, but Tiffin clawed back with five unanswered points to pull within 65-54 at the 1:18 mark. After a foul in the backcourt, Melissa Hersey (Sr./West Chester, OH) calmly sank a pair of free throws and than nailed a 15-foot jumper to give ODU some breathing room with 35 seconds left, leading 69-64. After the Dragons drew a foul and hit a pair at the stripe, the Panthers turned the ball over on its ensuing possession. With 19 ticks left, Tiffin drew up a play in a timeout, but Karli Mast's three-point attempt went awry as Abby Glover (Jr./Centerville, OH) collected the rebound and hit one of two at the line to seal the victory.

The Panthers took a five-point lead to open the second half as Fox hit her first of a season-high four treys and Summer Hale (Sr./Galena, OH) followed with a jumper at the 18:07 mark. After two Glover free throws and a Tiffin jumper, Fox lined up back-to-back triples to stretch the ODU lead from three to 41-33 with 15:45 left to play. Tiffin closed to 44-41 with 12:42 on the clock, but ODU quickly put the advantage back out to eight as Shelley Warren (Jr./Solon, OH) followed an offensive board with a jumper and Snider nailed her second three-pointer of the game to put the Panthers up 49-41 at the 11:37 mark The Dragons scored the next six points and continued to remain close with ODU as teams traded baskets over the next 7:45.

ODU got off to one of its hottest starts to a game this season, hitting four of their first six shots en route to an early 12-0 lead just 4:25 into the contest. After missing on their first 10 shot attempts, the Dragons responded with seven unanswered points of their own in a 2:15 span to pull within five at the 13:20 mark. A three-pointer and jumper by Tracy Snider (Jr./Lancaster, OH) put the Panthers back up double digits, 27-17 with 11:07 remaining in the first, before the teams began trading baskets over the next seven minutes. Meredith Fox (Jr./Springboro, OH) connected on a jumper with 4:10 left to give ODU a 28-20 advantage, but Tiffin closed the half on a 8-0 run, squaring the halftime score at 28-28.

Despite 22 turnovers, the Panthers were able to retain the lead throughout the game thanks in large part to a season-high 12 three-pointers, including eight in the second half, on 12-of-27 (44.4 percent) shooting. After struggling from the charity stripe over the last seven games, ODU shot its second best percentage of the year going 12-of-14 (85.7 percent), including a crucial 10-of-12 in the second.

Fox led ODU for the second straight game with a season-best 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting, reaching double digits for the sixth straight outing and eighth time in nine games. Snider came off the bench for a season-high 15 points on 3-of-5 shooting from behind the arc. Glover added 12 on 4-of-5 shooting, while Hersey concluded her career with 10 points and seven assists to go along with a season-high seven boards.

Mandy Jaeb paced four Dragons starters in double figures with 18 points. Karli Mast added 14, Jessica Harris finished with 12 and a game-high 12 rebounds and Holly Focke chipped in 11.

Contact: Bryan Desch
deschb@ohiodominican.edu