COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team lit up the scoreboard in its season opener, rolling to a 96-65 win over Ursuline in the GLIAC/GMAC Crossover Friday night in Alumni Hall.

The 96 points scored are the most by the team since putting up 92 against Wilberforce in 2010, and it was the largest margin of victory by ODU since a scoring a 76-44 win over Marygrove, also in 2010.

Sophomore Madi Rittinger (Dayton, Ohio) scored a career high 24 points, to go along with eight rebounds and a career-tying four blocks, in just 25 minutes of play. She hit 9-of-15 shot from the field, including a pair of three pointers.

Joining Rittinger in double figures was senior Kacee Hockenberry (Haviland, Ohio), who hit four three-pointers and tallied 14 points in just 16 minutes. Freshman Darian Rose (Fort Loramie, Ohio) came off the bench to tally 14 points and junior Melissa Scherpenberg (Cincinnati, Ohio) recorded her 15th career double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. She also blocked four shots.

Overall, the Panthers shot 33-of-84 (39.3 percent) from the field and hit 11 of their first 22 three-pointers. The 11 three-point makes are the most by the team since hitting 12 on Feb. 26, 2011 against Tiffin. ODU also went 19-of-25 from the charity stripe and converted 30 Ursuline turnovers into 38 points.

A 17-0 burst in the first half put the game away. The Panthers had a 24-19 lead with 9:02 to play in the half, but Rose scored four straight points and Scherpenberg made a layup and a jumper to give the Panthers a 32-19 edge.

Another jumper by Rose, a free throw make by Rittinger, and consecutive three-pointers by Rittinger and sophomore Tori Beth Leader (West Portsmouth, Ohio) extended the lead to 41-19 with 3:45 to play, and ODU would take a 48-30 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, the lead stretched to as much as 41 points on a pair of occasions as the Panthers outscored Ursuline 48-35 after intermission.

Other contributors to the win included senior Micaela Liddane (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.), who had five assists and three steals, sophomore Lauren Bates (Hilliard, Ohio) who had six points, six rebounds and four assists, and Leader, who tallied eight points and five rebounds.

Overall, the Panthers had 22 assists on 33 made field goals, the best in both of those categories since ringing up 30 assists on 39 field goals in a 115-111 overtime win over Olivet Nazarene on Dec. 30, 2009.

The Panthers remain at home for a 4 p.m. tipoff against Cedarville on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets defeated Ashland 74-65 earlier on Friday in the first game of the GLIAC-GMAC Crossover.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu