COLUMBUS, Ohio – Knotted at 48 with 4:56 to play, Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team scored the final seven points of the contest to knock off Urbana 55-48 in a non-conference matchup Tuesday in Alumni Hall.

The victory snapped an eight-game slide for the Panthers, who improved to 7-18 on the year, while the Blue Knights fell to 12-14.

Trailing 37-32 with 10:26 left, senior guard Katy Rasor (Grove City, Ohio) engineered an 8-0 run herself, knocking down a triple on an out-of-bounds play, beating the defense down the floor for a fastbreak layup, and hitting another three in transition off a feed from senior guard Meredith Fox (Springboro, Ohio) with 8:17 left to give the Panthers their first lead of the game, 40-37.

After Urbana answered with a jump shot, freshman guard Kacee Hockenberry (Haviland, Ohio) knocked down a jump shot and drew a foul, and the Blue Knights were assessed a technical on the play. It turned into a five-point possession for the Panthers as Hockenberry knocked down all three free throws, stretching ODU's lead to 45-39 with 7:31 left.

Three-pointers on the next three possessions made it a 48-45 score at the 6:38 mark, and the Blue Knights tied it with three free throws over the ensuing minute and a half.

Both teams went cold for the next four minutes, as the Panthers missed five straight shots and Urbana missed five straight as well in that stretch. Sophomore guard Christina Pentaudi (Dayton, Ohio) finally broke the spell with a three-pointer in the corner in front of ODU's bench to make it 51-48 with 50 seconds left.

The Blue Knights missed their next shot, and Hockenberry hit two free throws to make it 53-48, and after another Urbana miss, Fox closed the game with two more freebies with five ticks left.

Ohio Dominican's defense held Urbana to without a field goal in the final 6:38 of the game, forcing six missed shots overall.

ODU was able to hang around in the first half despite shooting just 18.5 percent (5-of-27) in the opening frame. The Panthers missed 11 of their first 12 shots as Urbana went in front 9-2 early. ODU forged a tie at 16-16 on a pair of Stought free throws with 5:21 left, but the Blue Knights scored the next nine points and would take a 25-18 lead into the break. ODU made 8-of-10 free throws in the first 20 minutes and forced 13 Urbana turnovers to stay in the game.

Three Panthers scored in double figures, led by 12 points apiece from Hockenberry and Fox, while Rasor finished with 10 points. Senior forward Abby Glover (Centerville, Ohio) had nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds, sophomore forward Katelyn Stuckey (Millersburg, Ohio) had eight rebounds, and Fox tallied seven rebounds and a game-high five assists. Freshman forward Paige Stought (Pickerington, Ohio) had seven rebounds off the bench as well.

ODU finished the game 16-of-57 from the floor (28.1 percent), while Urbana shot 30.2 percent (16-of-53) for the contest. Ohio Dominican finished with a 47-35 advantage in rebounding and went 19-of-22 (86.4 percent) from the free throw line. Hockenberry made a season-best 8-of-9 at the stripe to pace ODU.

The Panthers close out the 2011-12 season at home against GLIAC South Division foe Tiffin in a 1 p.m. tip-off Saturday in Alumni Hall. Prior to the game, ODU's four seniors – Fox, Glover, Rasor and guard Tracy Snider (Lancaster, Ohio) will be recognized.

Contact: Bryan Desch
deschb@ohiodominican.edu