COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's defense forced 23 turnovers which led to 16 fast break points as the women's basketball team pulled away with a 67-57 non-conference win over Missouri-St. Louis in Alumni Hall on Sunday.

The win snapped a three-game skid for the Panthers, who improved to 4-6 on the year, while the Tritons fell to 4-4.

Senior guard Kacee Hockenberry (Haviland, Ohio) tallied a game-best 25 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 10-of-12 from the free throw line. She also had four assists.

Sophomore guard Tori Beth Leader (West Portsmouth, Ohio) added 14 points in 18 minutes off the bench and junior forward Melissa Scherpenberg (Cincinnati, Ohio) tallied eight points and nine rebounds as well.

The Panthers, who shot 44.0 percent (22-of-50) from the field, raced to a 14 point lead in the first half. ODU went on a 12-0 run, with sophomore Lindsey Blanford (Xenia, Ohio) sinking a three and Hockenberry tallying six points during that stretch, to go in front 28-14 with 6:36 left in the half.

ODU still led by 13, 33-20, with 3:49 left in the half, but the Tritons closed the half on a 10-2 run, beating the buzzer with an offensive rebound and layup to cut the score to 35-30 at the break.

The Tritons continued their run in the second half, grabbing a pair of three point leads at 42-39 and 51-48, the latter coming with 8:22 left in the game.

A Scherpenberg layup and three-point play by Hockenberry gave the Panthers a 53-51 lead with 7:06 left, but UMSL would come back to tie the score at 57 with 3:32 left.

Hockenberry made a free throw and connected with sophomore Lauren Bates (Hilliard, Ohio) on a fastbreak layup to give the Panthers a 60-57 lead with two minutes left, and Hockenberry made five more free throws down the stretch to help ODU pull away.

The Panthers went 17-of-21 from the free throw line (81.0 percent), and held on despite being outrebounded 42-31.

Bates finished with five of ODU's 13 steals, one shy of a career-best she set a week ago at Ferris State, and senior guard Micaela Liddane (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) tied a season-high with six assists. Sophomore forward Madi Rittinger (Dayton, Ohio) had six points, six rebounds and four blocks as well.

The Panthers return to action at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 2 in Alumni Hall against Michigan Tech.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu