COLUMBUS, Ohio – After falling behind 24-7 in the opening seven minutes of the game, Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team raced back to score a 77-68 non-conference victory over visiting Ursuline Saturday.

The Panthers improved to 2-0 on the season and have now won seven consecutive non-conference games, while the Arrows fell to 2-2.

ODU's bench led the way as the reserves scored 55 of the team's 77 points. Freshman Tori Beth Leader (West Portsmouth, Ohio) had a game-high 19 points to go along with seven rebounds off the bench, and classmate Madi Rittinger (Dayton, Ohio) added 16 points and nine rebounds.

Other bench contributors included freshman Lauren Bates (Hilliard, Ohio), who had nine points and three assists, while classmate Kayla Cook (Westerville, Ohio) had eight points and three assists.

The Panthers missed nine of their first 10 shots in falling in that 17-point hole at the 13:16 mark, but an 11-0 burst over the next two minutes helped bring them back into the game. Leader hit a pair of threes and had a layup and Cook also drilled a triple to cut the deficit to 24-18 at the 11:13 mark.

Three minutes later, the Panthers drew within a point on a pair of free throws by sophomore Rachael Torey (Sterling Heights, Mich.), then took their first lead of the game at 29-28 after Torey hit two more free throws with just over eight minutes left.

ODU trailed by two late in the half, but a jumper by junior Kacee Hockenberry (Haviland, Ohio) with 28 seconds left sent the game into intermission tied at 39.

Leading 46-44 early in the second half, ODU scored seven straight points on a pair of Rittinger free throws, a triple by Torey and a layup by Rittinger to build a nine-point advantage with 12:43 left. That was part of a 17-5 overall run by the Panthers which stretched their lead to as much as 14, 63-49, and Ursuline would draw no closer than eight for the rest of the contest.

ODU shot 51.6 percent from the field in the second half (16-of-31) and overall had a 43-32 edge in rebounding, pulling down 20 offensive rebounds.

Torey would finish with 12 points to also score in double figures for the Panthers, while sophomore Melissa Scherpenberg (Cincinnati, Ohio) had nine rebounds.

Ohio Dominican is on the road for the Thanksgiving holiday, playing in the Eckerd College Thanksgiving Classic in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Panthers take on Florida Southern at 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 29.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu