Phillipi, W. Va. – Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team outlasted Cedarville in a double overtime marathon to defeat the Yellow Jacket 81-74 Saturday afternoon in a neutral site contest.

The win gives the Panthers (2-0, 0-0 GLIAC) their first 2-0 start since the 2012-13 season, as well as their first double overtime victory in the NCAA Division II era.

With the score tied at 56-all late in the fourth quarter, junior Lauren Bates (Hilliard, Ohio) scored two of her career high 23 points on a layup to give ODU a 58-56 lead with 2:00 left in regulation. Cedarville (0-2, 0-0 GMAC) tied the game late with a jumper with 36 seconds remaining.

The first overtime saw the Yellow Jackets jump out to a 65-60 advantage, but the Panthers would score six of the next nine points to trail 68-66 with under 30 seconds remaining. Junior Tori Beth Leader (West Portsmouth, Ohio) then knocked down a jumper with nine seconds left to send the game to a second overtime.

The Yellow Jackets led for the opening four minutes of the final session, but it was all ODU down the stretch. Leader drained a triple to give ODU a 75-74 lead with 1:02 left, the Panthers' first lead of the final overtime.

Sophomore Darian Rose (Fort Loramie, Ohio) then came up with a steal with 32 ticks left, and sophomore Megan Eyre (Fayetteville, Ohio) hit two free throws to put ODU in front 77-74. Cedarville missed its final three shots from the field in the last 15 seconds, and Bates and Leader each sank a pair of free throws to seal the victory.

Leader finished the contest with a career high 26 points to lead the Panthers as she drained a career high five three pointers. She also added six rebounds and two assists.

Bates nearly recorded a double-double as she grabbed eight rebounds while dishing out a team high five assists. Senior Melissa Scherpenberg (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted her second double-double of the season with 12 points and a team high 16 rebounds.

Tying a career high in rebounds was junior Madi Rittinger (Dayton, Ohio) as she grabbed 13 on the day. Rittinger added 14 points and fell one shy of tying a career high in blocked shots as she rejected four CU shots.

The Panthers finished the contest shooting 76.0 percent from the charity stripe, the seventh time in eight games that ODU has shot above 70 percent from the line dating to last season. Ohio Dominican finished the contest 19-of-25 from the foul line while the Yellow Jackets were just 6-of-9.

This is the second consecutive season that the Black and Gold has posted at least 80 points in the first two games of the season.

It was ODU that jumped out to an early first quarter lead, as the Panthers started the contest on a 13-6 run capped by a Scherpenberg layup. Cedarville however, would record 12 of the final 16 points of the quarter to take an 18-17 lead.

The Yellow Jackets grew their first half lead to as many as 16 as they led 37-21 with four minutes remaining in the half. Ohio Dominican closed the first half on a 12-4 run to close the gap to 41-35 at the intermission.

Both teams feasted on close shots in the first half with ODU and CU combining for 42 points in the paint in the opening 20 minutes.

Cedarville grew its lead back to 10 in the third quarter but ODU held the Yellow Jackets to just six third quarter points, as the Panthers ended the third period with a 12-0 run to lead 49-47.

Ohio Dominican will open up its home schedule with a 6 p.m. game Tuesday night in Alumni Hall against West Liberty.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu