Oilers Breeze into G-MAC Championship
Cedarville, Ohio – The University of Findlay flexed their muscle in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) semifinal round on Friday, Mar. 2 against the Walsh Cavaliers, earning a convincing 70-59 victory. With the win, the Oilers, seeded third, advance to just their second conference tournament championship since becoming an NCAA DII competitor in 2000. 2012-13 was the last time the Orange and Black landed in a championship game, a contest that the no. 19 ranked lost 68-49 to the no. 2 Ashland Eagles. With the win, Findlay improves its record to 22-6 while the Cavs, the second seed in the tournament, end their season 21-9.
The Oilers, who never trailed in the contest, shot nearly 50% in the contest and kept the Cavaliers leading scorer, Alex Hochstedler, off the board en route to their semifinal win. Findlay hit 25-of-59 from the floor and, despite being one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country, attempted just 11 triples.
Ahead by 37-24 with 1:20 left in the half, the Oilers went on a 13-0 run to lead by a game-high 26 midway through the third quarter. Findlay would ride that momentum to take the season series against Walsh.
Just as it did a day ago, the play of junior Anna Hintz and senior Haley Horstman helped lead Findlay to the win. Hintz scored a game-high 20 points on 8-of-11 from the floor while snagging a career-high 16 rebounds. Horstman, a senior, contributed 19 points, grabbed five rebounds, and had three assists.
Junior Christa Puthoff came off the bench to score eight points while junior Allie Thobe and senior Lynsey Englebrecht scored seven apiece. Englebrecht also had four rebounds and four assists.
Findlay will play for the Great Midwest Tournament Championship and the right to earn an automatic berth into the NCAA DII Tournament tomorrow at 2:00 pm in Cedarville. The Oilers will face the winner of the night cap where Hillsdale takes on the top seed and regular season champ, Cedarville.