Oilers Take Down Bucs to Open Shark Holiday Classic
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – The University of Findlay women's basketball team remained on the road on Friday, Dec. 20, this time playing south in the Sunshine State at the Shark Holiday Classic hosted by Nova Southeastern. The Oilers took on Barry University in their first game of the event and earned an 89-78 victory to improve to 6-6 on the year while Barry falls to 1-8.
After falling behind by six points with just under three minutes to play in the first quarter, Findlay went on a 12-2 run to close out the period and take a 25-21 lead. From then on, both teams battled in a back-and-forth contest that saw four ties and seven lead changes.
The Oilers last trailed in the game at 52-50 with seven minutes left in the third quarter. Two free throws and a jumper from sophomore Sydney Kin put Findlay ahead 54-52, and the Orange and Black would not trail again, ultimately earning an 11-point victory.
Findlay shot their best percentage of the year, making 34-of-64 (.531) shots from the floor that included 6-of-20 (.300) from three point range. On the other side, Barry made just 40% of their shots and only 17% from deep. The Oilers also held a decided advantage on the glass, outrebounding the Buccaneers 44-to-32, and dominated in the paint where they scored 54 of their 89 points.
Five players scored in double-figures for Findlay. The leading scorer was sophomore Paige Bellman who tied a career-high with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Bellman also led the squad with 14 rebounds to pick up her fifth double-double of the season and tied for the team-high with three assists.
Sophomore Sydney Kin, coming off a career-high 33-point performance against Urbana on Tuesday, scored 16 points and grabbed eight boards in the win while sophomore Amber Schweiger chipped in 15 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Junior Madison Stolly and freshman Elizabeth Flynn each scored 11 points to round out the double-digit scorers. Flynn emerged as the biggest deep threat in the game, finishing a perfect 3-for-3 from deep. She also had three assists.
The Oilers will wrap up the Shark Holiday Classic tomorrow, Dec. 21 when they take on the host, Nova Southeastern. That game will tip off at 2:00 pm.