DETROIT – A 24-4 burst over the third and fourth quarters helped propel Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team to a 70-62 road win at Wayne State on Saturday in GLIAC action.

The Panthers had trailed by as much as 10 in the first half and were behind 43-36 with just over five minutes left in the third before their game-changing burst.

Winners in 10 of their last 11 games, the Panthers improved to 18-5 (13-4 GLIAC) and remained in a tie for second place in the overall conference standings.

Senior Melissa Scherpenberg (Cincinnati, Ohio) finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds for her 14th double-double of the season. The 11 boards gave her 1,002 in her career. She becomes just the second player in school history to grab 1,000 career rebounds and the second to surpass 1,000 career points and rebounds.

Sophomore Megan Eyre (Fayetteville, Ohio) scored 11 points off the bench and junior Lauren Bates (Hilliard, Ohio) and sophomore Darian Rose (Fort Loramie, Ohio) each added 10 to lead the Panthers. Juniors Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) and Madi Rittinger (Dayton, Ohio) chipped in with eight points apiece.

After a sluggish first half in which they trailed by 10 on a pair of occasions and shot just 26.7 percent from the floor, ODU was still down seven midway through the third.

Two baskets by Rittinger, free throws by Eyre and Rose, and a layup in the final 30 seconds by Scherpenberg evened the score at 45 going into the fourth.

Down 47-46 early in the frame, ODU ripped off the next 14 points. Senior Rachael Torey (Sterling Heights, Mich.) hit a triple to put ODU back in front, Rittinger and Scherpenberg each scored in the paint, and Eyre knocked down a jump shot in transition and a trey from the right win to give ODU a 60-47 lead with 6:13 left.

The Warriors rallied, though, scoring the next eight points to get back in the game. Wayne State closed within 64-62 1:54 left and had the ball after a Panther turnover, but missed a shot.

Rose then knocked down a jumper from the right elbow to make it 66-62 with 52 seconds left, and Rittinger blocked a shot on the other end which led to two free throws by Rose to extend the lead to 68-62 with 29.3 seconds remaining and seal the win.

Overall, the Panthers outscored Wayne State 44-30 in the second half and hit 15-of-32 shots from the field in the final 20 minutes.

Ohio Dominican returns home to host Walsh at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Alumni Hall.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu