Oilers Halt Yellow Jackets' Comeback Effort
Findlay, Ohio – Something about playing Cedarville brings out the best in Anna Hintz. The junior scored 15 of Findlay's 32 points in the second half to help the home team hang on to defeat the Yellow Jackets 73-65 on Feb. 13 in Croy Gymnasium.
Holding a comfortable 41-29 lead at halftime, Findlay (18-6, 15-5 G-MAC) looked as though they would cruise to victory over the second-place team in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC). But Cedarville (19-5, 14-4 G-MAC), which trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half, would use a 12-0 run midway through the third quarter to pull within two points of the Oilers at 49-47.
Findlay responded with an 8-0 run of their own to stretch their lead to 57-47 and, thanks to a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe in the final frame, would hold on to stay alive in the conference regular season championship race.
Cedarville held a slight .483 - .456 edge in shooting percentage and also owned a 35-30 advantage on the boards. Two of the best three-point shooting teams in the country, both the Oilers and Yellow Jackets struggled to find their rhythm as they combined to shoot just 29.5% from beyond the arc.
Hintz, who scored a career-high 31 points against Cedarville on Dec. 16, dominated the paint and scored 29 points in 26 minutes of action. She converted on 10-of-14 from the field, including a perfect 2-of-2 from deep, and made a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. The North Fairfield, Ohio native also grabbed a team-high ten rebounds to secure her 13th career double-double.
Senior Lynsey Englebrecht, Findlay's newly minted season record holder for made three-point shots, scored 17 points on 5-of-12 from the field including 4-of-10 from deep. She also had two rebounds and three assists in the winning effort.
Senior Haley Horstman played all 40 minutes and scored eight points on 4-of-10 from the floor while leading her squad with four assists while junior Allie Thobe led the team with four steals. Junior Christa Puthoff came off the pine to record four points and five rebounds.
Findlay will be back in action on Thursday, Feb. 15 when they host G-MAC opponent Ohio Valley in a game set to tip off at 8:00 pm.