ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team trailed by just a point with 4:31 left, but Florida Southern answered with a 9-2 run as the Panthers fell 53-48 in the first game of the Eckerd College Thanksgiving Classic on Friday.

With the setback, ODU dropped to 2-1 on the season, while Florida Southern improved to 3-2.

The Panthers struggled shooting the ball, hitting just 19-of-60 (31.7 percent) from the field, including 2-of-18 from beyond the arc. The Mocs, meanwhile, knocked down 8-of-15 from three-point range and had a 41-33 advantage in rebounding.

Junior guard Kacee Hockenberry (Haviland, Ohio) led the Panthers with 11 points and freshman forward Madi Rittinger (Dayton, Ohio) added 10 in the setback.

Rittinger finished off an old-fashioned three-point play to cut ODU's deficit to 44-43 at the 4:31 mark, but four straight points by the Mocs pushed their lead to 48-43 with less than three minutes to play.

Freshman Lindsey Blanford (Xenia, Ohio) answered with a layup with 2:39 left to make it 48-45, but the Panthers would be held scoreless for nearly the duration of the contest, sinking a three-pointer with just three seconds left to account for the final margin.

FSC jumped to a 14-6 lead early in the game, but ODU came back to tie it at 16 on Hockenberry's layup with six minutes left in the first half. Two free throws by freshman Lauren Bates (Hilliard, Ohio) and a layup by sophomore Alex Hallenbeck (St. Johns, Mich.) gave the Panthers a 20-16 lead, but the Mocs knocked down consecutive three-pointers to counter.

Hockenberry, though, hit a tough jumper in the paint before the first half expired to send the game into intermission tied at 22.

Sophomore Rachael Torey (Sterling Heights, Mich.) scored moments into the second half to give the Panthers a 24-22 lead, but that would be their last lead of the game. Florida Southern went in front by as much as seven, 41-34, with 7:12 left before ODU made its final push to cut the score to 44-43.

The Panthers close out play in Florida at 3 p.m. Saturday against host Eckerd.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu