NORTH CANTON, Ohio – Walsh hit three late three-pointers to pull away from Ohio Dominican's women's basketball team as the Panthers fell 68-62 in a GLIAC Quarterfinal matchup at Walsh.

With the loss, ODU fell to 20-9 on the season. The Panthers must wait until 10 p.m. Sunday to determine their NCAA Tournament fate.

Sophomore Darian Rose (Fort Loramie, Ohio) hit a jump shot from the elbow that gave ODU a 56-55 lead with four minutes to play. The Cavaliers (19-8) hit a three-pointer, but junior Lauren Bates (Hilliard, Ohio) answered with a long jump shot to knot the game up at 58 with 2:33 left.

Walsh then hit a long triple as the shot clock was about to expire on the next possession to take a 61-58 lead with two minutes to play.

Rose made a driving layup with 53.0 ticks left, but Walsh countered with a three-pointer from the corner to go in front 64-60 with 35 seconds, and ODU turned it over on its next possession to seal the game.

The Panthers had a 30-21 lead at halftime, but Walsh started the third on a 14-2 run and led 35-32. Senior Melissa Scherpenberg (Cincinnati, Ohio) and junior Jackie Oestreich (Brighton, Mich.) scored eight straight points for the Panthers inside to put them back in front 40-36, and junior Kayla Cook (Westerville, Ohio) hit a jumper to make it 44-40 going into the fourth quarter.

ODU extended its lead to eight early in the fourth period as junior Madi Rittinger (Dayton, Ohio) hit a short hook in the lane, then made two free throws to give ODU a 48-40 cushion one minute into the quarter.

The Panthers still led 52-45, but Walsh scored the next eight points to take a 53-52 lead with 5:15 left.

The Panthers turned the ball over 24 times, which led to 26 Walsh points. ODU shot 46.4 percent and held Walsh to 33.9 percent shooting, but the Cavaliers made 10 threes to just two for ODU. The Panthers also made 8-of-14 free throws compared to 18-of-24 for the Cavaliers.

Scherpenberg tallied 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting with 16 rebounds and Rittinger added 14 points. Cook scored 10 points off the bench and Rose and Bates each scored nine points.

The first quarter was sluggish, as the Panthers shot just 3-of-12 from the field and turned it over six times, while Walsh hit on just 3-of-14 shots themselves. The Panthers did not make a shot from the field over the final 5:59 and entered the second quarter trailing 9-8.

ODU turned it around quickly in the second, though. The Panthers began the period  on an 11-2 burst, as Cook knocked down a pair of long jump shots and Bates finished with a left handed shot off the glass to put ODU in front 19-11 at the 6:25 mark. Rose buried a triple from the left corner and the Panthers came up with three defensive stops down the stretch to put ODU in front 30-21 at the break.

ODU made 9-of-17 shots in the second quarter (52.9 percent) and outrebounded Walsh 15-4 in the quarter. The Panthers had a 27-13 edge on the glass in the half.

Scherpenberg had six points and 10 rebounds at intermission and Cook had eight points off the bench.

Contact: Scott Miles
miless@ohiodominican.edu