Oilers Come Up Short at NMU
The University of Findlay women's basketball team dropped a 79-76 decision to Northern Michigan University on Saturday, Feb. 4 in Marquette, Michigan. The loss moved the Oilers record to 12-9 on the year with a 6-8 mark in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC).
With the scored tied 66-66 at the 4:07 mark of the second half, the Wildcats went on a mini 5-0 run to make the score 71-66 with 2:41 remaining.
After a free throw by junior forward Tai Dotson, fellow junior forward Kayla Brown converted a lay-up to make the score 71-69 with 1:34 left in the contest. The Wildcats would connect on a three pointer however on the ensuing possession to push their back out to five.
Trailing by five at 74-69 with 1:04 to play, Dotson quickly converted a lay-up and Northern Michigan split a pair of shots from the free throw line. Senior guard Clare Aubry then hit two free throws to cut the lead to two at 75-73 with 21 ticks showing on the clock.
Northern Michigan's Alyssa Colla split a pair of free throws after a foul on the Oilers to keep it a one possession game, but the Oilers could not convert on the other end as Brown missed a three point try with 12 seconds left.
The Oilers sent the Wildcats back to the line after the miss and Northern Michigan converted both attempts. Red-shirt sophomore guard Ashley Andrews kept things interesting however after she buried a long three pointer to make the score 78-76 with four seconds showing on the clock.
Down by two, the Oilers fouled and got what they wanted as Northern Michigan split a pair of shots from the charity stripe. The Oilers then raced the ball down the floor, but a three point try from freshman guard Kristin Klausing was off the mark as Findlay dropped their fourth straight game.
The Oilers shot a season-best 54.9 percent (28-of-51) from the floor and saw their bench out-score the Wildcats by a 37-6 margin.
The Wildcats meanwhile hit on 50 percent (26-of-52) of their shots, which included a 7-of-19 (36.8%) showing from behind the three point line.
Brown and Klausing each scored 12 points to lead the Oilers.
Brown also tallied a team-high six rebounds while Klausing established a new career-high in points after connecting on 5-of-7 shots in 17 minutes off the bench.
Red-shirt freshman Carlay Stahl also reached double figures with ten points off the bench Andrews and senior forward Kaitlyn Nelson had nine points apiece.
Chelsea Lyons led the Wildcats with a game-high 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting.
Colla also had a great game for Northern Michigan as she recorded 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting.
The Oilers will return to the court on Thursday, February 9 when they travel to Tiffin, Ohio to face Tiffin University at 6 pm.