COLUMBUS, Ohio  -- Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team recovered from a slow start, then held off a late Ferris State charge to record a 53-50 home victory Sunday evening in GLIAC play at Alumni Hall.

ODU (4-3, 1-2 GLIAC) limited Ferris State (1-4, 1-2) to just 32.8 percent shooting (19-of-58) for the game and forced 21 turnovers.

Junior guard Kacee Hockenberry (Haviland, Ohio) scored a game-high 19 points, to go along with six rebounds. Freshman Lauren Bates (Hilliard, Ohio) added eight points and season-highs in rebounds (nine) and steals (four), while classmate Tori Beth Leader (West Portsmouth, Ohio) added nine points off the bench as well.

The Panthers got off to a sluggish start offensively, trailing 15-5 at the 9:23 mark in the first half. ODU trimmed the deficit to 17-14 on a jumper by Bates, and another layup by Bates cut the deficit to 19-18 with 2:59 to play.

ODU tied the score at 23-23 on two Kayla Cook (Columbus, Ohio) free throws, but a late layup sent the visitors into the half with a 25-23 advantage.

Hockenberry tied the game at 25 with a layup at the 18:37 mark, and freshman Lindsey Blanford (Xenia, Ohio) drilled a three from the left wing with 15:25 to play to keep it knotted at 29. Leader then found senior forward Katelyn Stuckey (Millersburg, Ohio) for a layup, then Blanford dished inside to freshman Madi Rittinger (Dayton, Ohio) for a layin to put ODU in front 33-30 with 13:06 to play.

After a Ferris miss, Hockenberry pushed the ball up the left side in transition and found Leader in the corner open for three to give the Panthers a 36-30, forcing a Bulldog timeout. The lead went to 40-32 with 8:16 left after Hockenberry knocked down a jumper.

Bates then made a fastbreak layup, then came up with a steal and dished a bounce pass to Hockenberry for a layup on the break to extend the Panther lead to 44-35 with just over 6:30 left.

Ferris answered with a 9-2 run to draw within 46-44, then tied it with a jumper in the lane with 2:45 left.

Hockenberry then made a runner and drew a foul to put ODU back in front 49-46 with 2:16 left, and after two Ferris free throws, drove baseline for a layup and a 51-48 lead.

After a Ferris offensive rebound and putback layup made it 51-50, ODU missed a jumper, got the ball back on an offensive rebound but turned it over.

But Bates came up with a held ball on the inbounds to give possession back to the Panthers with 7.2 seconds left. The Bulldogs only had four team fouls at that point and needed nearly five seconds to send ODU into the bonus.

Scherpenberg went to the line with 2.8 seconds and made both free throws, and Bates stole the inbounds pass near the midcourt stripe to seal the victory.

ODU shot 46.2 percent from the field in the second half.

Ohio Dominican will host Grand Valley on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu