ASHLAND, Ohio – Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team suffered an 81-61 road setback at Ashland in GLIAC play on Thursday night.

On a night where Ashland coach Sue Ramsey, who is retiring after 20 years of coaching at the school, was recognized before the game, the Eagles (19-7, 15-5 GLIAC) shot 55.2 percent and outscored ODU (8-17, 5-14 GLIAC) 51-33 over the final 21 minutes of the game.

Junior forward Melissa Scherpenberg (Cincinnati, Ohio) tied a season-high with 19 points, to go along with seven rebounds and three steals. She made 8-of-13 from the field.

Senior guard Kacee Hockenberry (Haviland, Ohio) added 15 points, sophomore forward Madi Rittinger (Dayton, Ohio) scored 11 points with seven rebounds, sophomore Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) tallied eight points and freshman guard Darian Rose (Fort Loramie, Ohio) also scored eight points.

Oestreich scored six of ODU's first eight points, and a pair of Scherpenberg layups made it 12-6 in favor of the Panthers six minutes in. Ashland responded, though, in a half that featured five ties and five lead changes, and with the score tied 21-21, AU scored seven straight to go in front 28-21 with 3:21 left.

Rose made a runner, Scherpenberg buried a jumper and Hockenberry sank a triple from the right wing to make it 30-28 with 1:40 left, but Ashland would take a 37-30 lead into the break.

Ashland started the second half on a 10-2 run, going in front 47-32 three minutes into the half. Rose had a three-point play and drained a three-pointer from the right wing to make it 54-44 with 13:30 left, but Ashland responded with eight straight points to go in front 62-44.

The Panthers cut it to 11 (68-57), but Ashland scored the next 10 points to put the game away.

ODU shot 23-of-61 (37.7 percent) from the field and turned the ball over 19 times, leading to 21 Ashland points. The Panthers recorded 13 steals, with three apiece from Scherpenberg, senior Micaela Liddane (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) and freshman Megan Eyre (Fayetteville, Ohio).

Ohio Dominican remains on the road to take on Lake Erie at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu