COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team took a 56-55 lead over Tiffin with 2:49 remaining on Saturday afternoon, though the Dragons spoiled the Senior Day festivities with 12 unanswered points in the closing two minutes for the 67-56 final. 

Freshman Kacee Hockenberry (Haviland, OH) gave the Panthers a 54-51 edge with 4:53 left in the game on back-to-back field goals and following consecutive Tiffin lay-ins, put ODU on top at the 2:49 mark with a pair at the stripe. The five lead changes and two ties over the final 9:44 had the game looking like it would come down to the wire, yet the Panthers went without a field goal and could only tally the two free throws over the last 4:53.

Playing their final game in Alumni Hall, seniors Meredith Fox (Springboro, OH), Abby Glover (Centerville, OH) and Katy Rasor (Grove City, OH) got the Panthers off to a fast start, combining for 16 of the team's first 19 points. As a unit, ODU hit 7-of-10 to open the day and finished the first half a season-best 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from the floor, including 5-of-8 (62.5 percent) on threes as senior Tracy Snider (Lancaster, OH) lined the fifth trey for a 30-26 cushion with 3:29 to go.

The Panthers continued to shoot lights out from deep to start the second as Rasor extended the halftime lead to five, 37-32, with her game-high third triple. The Dragons closed within 41-40 before sophomore Christina Pentaudi (Dayton, OH) capped a 9-2 run with back-to-back threes as ODU matched its largest lead of the day of seven, 47-40, at the 12:19 mark.

Despite the strong first, the Panthers shot just 6-of-27 (22.2 percent) in the second, finishing the afternoon 19-of-51 (37.3 percent) overall and 8-of-22 (36.3 percent) from deep, missing their last eight.

Hockenberry led ODU with 13 points, while Glover and Rasor each tallied 11 and Fox added seven. 

Jessica Harris finished with game-highs of 17 points, including 9-of-10 from the charity stripe, and 15 rebounds to lead Tiffin, while Mandy Jaeb posted 15. 

The Dragons improve to 20-6 on the year and 14-5 in the GLIAC and depending on the tie-breaker scenarios will be either the third or fourth seed in the upcoming conference tournament. The Panthers meanwhile conclude their second year at Division II with a 7-19 overall record and 2-17 mark in the GLIAC.

Contact: Bryan Desch
deschb@ohiodominican.edu