DETROIT, Mich. – Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team hung close with No. 6 Wayne State for most of the afternoon before falling 86-76 in GLIAC play on Saturday.

The Panthers took a second half lead on Wayne State (13-1, 9-1 GLIAC) and trailed by just seven with six minutes left, but ODU could not capitalize on a Warrior scoring drought as the Panthers fell to 4-12 (1-9 GLIAC).

All 11 players who appeared in the game scored for ODU, led by 16 points by senior guard Kacee Hockenberry (Haviland, Ohio). Sophomore guard Tori Beth Leader (West Portsmouth, Ohio) added 13 points and sophomore guard Kayla Cook (Westerville, Ohio) tallied a season-best 12 points.

Wayne State jumped to a 25-10 lead about midway through the first half and ODU still trailed by 14, 36-22, with 5:12 left in the half. Consecutive jumpers by Cook cut it to seven with 1:43 left, and a jumper by senior guard Micaela Liddane (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) and two free throws by freshman Sarah Futscher (Wilder, Ky.) right before time expired cut the deficit to 38-36 at the break.

Hockenberry and sophomore Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) scored early in the second half to give ODU its first lead, 40-38, 90 seconds into the frame. The Warriors answered with a 14-4 surge to take a 52-44 edge with 14:32 left and pushed the lead to 63-50 with 11:18 to play.

Hockenberry's jump shot and Futscher's layup cut the score to 68-61 with 7:56 left, and ODU held the Warriors nearly four minutes without a score. But the Panthers couldn't capitalize, and five straight WSU points pushed the advantage back to 12 with five minutes left.

ODU would cut it to six, 82-76, on a Hockenberry triple with 37 seconds left, but that was as close as the Panthers would draw.

Futscher had a season-high nine points, and Cook tied a career-high with seven rebounds. Hockenberry also pulled down six boards and Liddane had four assists.

Ohio Dominican is back at home at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against Walsh.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu