Kacee Hockenberry Interview | Lynsey Warren Interview

NORTH CANTON, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team made the big plays it needed down the stretch to score its third straight victory, winning 70-66 on the road at Walsh Thursday night in GLIAC play.

Trailing 59-58 with just over three minutes left, ODU went on an 8-1 run to grab a 66-60 lead with 1:25 left, then held off Walsh in the final 60 seconds to improve to 7-8 (4-7 GLIAC).

Junior guard Kacee Hockenberry (Haviland, Ohio) scored a game-high 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while freshman Lauren Bates (Hilliard, Ohio) had a season-high 11 points to go along with eight boards and five assists.

The Panthers survived 26 turnovers by shooting 45.8 percent from the floor (27-of-59) and holding a decisive 48-25 rebounding advantage. ODU also received 25 points from its bench and has now scored 70 or more points in each of the last three games.

The entire contest was played in a nine-point window, with ODU's biggest lead being that 66-60 advantage and Walsh's at three on a pair of occasions. There were nine ties and 13 lead changes as well.

Bates found sophomore forward Melissa Scherpenberg (Cincinnati, Ohio) cutting to the basket for a 61-59 lead, and Scherpenberg's offensive rebound and layup made it 63-60 in favor of ODU.

Scherpenberg then came up with a steal and found Hockenberry in transition for a short jumper to make it a 65-60 lead with 1:37 to play. Bates followed with a steal of her own and made a free throw to give the Panthers the 66-60 advantage.

Walsh answered with a three-pointer to cut the lead to 66-63, and after Hockenberry sank two free throws, the Cavaliers had an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the lead to 68-66 with 39 seconds to play.

But Hockenberry, with the shot clock winding down, drove from midcourt into the lane and spun to her right to finish off the layup and put ODU in front by four with just nine seconds to play, sealing the win.

Scherpenberg would finish with eight points and nine rebounds and freshman Madi Rittinger (Dayton, Ohio) came off the bench to chip in with eight points.

Neither team was able to assert itself in the first half. A nice outlet pass from Bates to Hockenberry led to a layup, and Rittinger stuck a baseline jumper that made it 12-7 in favor of ODU in the opening eight minutes. Walsh would tie it at 12-12, and erased a 20-16 Panther lead with a 7-0 run to go in front 23-20 with just over two minutes left.

Buckets by Bates, freshman Tori Beth Leader (West Portsmouth, Ohio) and Rittinger kept the Panthers in it late in the half, and Hockenberry ran the length of the floor and knocked down a pull-up jumper from inside the free throw line to send ODU into the locker room with a 28-27 lead.

ODU committed 15 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, but shot 48.3 percent (14-of-29) and had a 22-10 edge in rebounding.

Leader found Rittinger for a jumper eight minutes into the second half to make it 43-37 in favor of ODU, but Walsh came back with five straight points to cut the lead to one. Later, the Cavaliers would take a 52-50 lead with 7:45 left on a three pointer, their first lead of the lead.

Later in the half, a steal by junior Micaela Liddane (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) led to a freshman Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) layup – her first collegiate bucket – and a 53-52 Panther lead with six minutes left.

Scherpenberg sank two free throws to extend the lead to 58-54 at the 4:28 mark, but five straight Cavalier points gave the home team its final lead of the game.

Ohio Dominican remains on the road for a 1 p.m. matchup at Malone on Saturday.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu