FINDLAY, Ohio – A 15-1 run late in the game sparked Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team to a resounding 76-61 win over Findlay on Thursday in GLIAC action.

The Panthers held a tenuous 61-57 advantage with 4:30 left before scoring 15 of the next 16 points to pull away down the stretch.

Sophomore Madi Rittinger (Dayton, Ohio) had a terrific all-around game, scoring 23 points to go along with a career-high 13 rebounds, and she tied a career-high with five blocked shots. Junior Melissa Scherpenberg (Cincinnati, Ohio) came off the bench to score 13 points and grab six rebounds and senior Kacee Hockenberry (Haviland, Ohio) added 12 points.

The Panthers (7-14, 4-11 GLIAC) made 29-of-61 shots (47.5 percent) from the field and made 14-of-15 free throws (93.3 percent). ODU also had a 41-25 edge in rebounding and scored 36 points in the paint.

In the second half, ODU went in front 40-31 after a Hockenberry jumper and pair of free throws, but the Oilers countered with a 12-3 run to draw even at 43-43 with 14 minutes left, and Findlay (11-9, 7-9 GLIAC) took a 48-45 lead with 11:43 to play.

The Panthers responded, though. Freshman Sarah Futscher (Wilder, Ky.) finished off a three point play and sophomore Lauren Bates (Hilliard, Ohio) layup put ODU in front 52-48, and Hockenberry sank a baseline jumper to make it 54-48 with 9:52 left, forcing an Oiler timeout.

Senior Micaela Liddane (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) followed her own miss with a layup to make it 56-48 with 8:30 left, and a Scherpenberg triple and two Bates free throws extended the lead to 61-51 with 6:30 left.

Findlay answered with six straight points to cut it to 61-57 with less than 4:30 to play. Rittinger made two free throws and freshman Megan Eyre (Fayetteville, Ohio) drove the length of the floor, drew contact and finished the layup and free throw to make it 66-57 with 3:42 to play. Later, Scherpenberg made a layup to give the Panthers an 11-point cushion with just over two minutes left, and the lead grew to as much as 18 in the waning moments.

ODU held Findlay to just 33.3 percent shooting in the second half (9-of-27) while connecting on 14-of-28 shots themselves.

In the first half, Liddane found Scherpenberg for a jumper, then looked off the defense and fired a pass inside to Scherpenberg for a layup and a 21-15 lead with 6:54 to play in the first half.

Findlay went in front 26-25, but Rittinger scored on a short jumper, then Bates found Rittinger for a transition three and a 30-26 lead with 2:15 left. Another Rittinger bucket and a Scherpenberg layup gave ODU a 34-29 lead at the break.

Liddane tied a season high with six assists and she also scored five points with five rebounds. Bates had eight points, Eyre finished with six and Futscher tallied five for ODU.

Ohio Dominican plays host to No. 12 Wayne State at 1 p.m. Saturday in Alumni Hall.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiominican.edu