Oilers' Lead Slips Late in Loss to Nova Southeastern
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – The University of Findlay women's basketball team played their final game of the 2019 calendar year on Saturday, Dec. 21 at the Shark Holiday Classic against Nova Southeastern University, a program that has gone to the Elite Eight in four of the previous seven seasons. Findlay held a lead for the majority of the game but eventually lost by a score of 70-63. With the loss, the Oilers drop to 6-7 on the season while the Sharks improve to 6-4 and have now rattled off four consecutive wins.
The only time Findlay trailed in the game prior to the fourth quarter was just a couple minutes into the game when they were down 3-2. The Oilers gained the lead and eventually built a ten-point advantage midway through the third quarter. That lead remained until the fourth quarter when there was 7:53 remaining in the game when the Sharks went on a 10-0 run to take a 52-46 lead. Nova Southeastern then hung on to that lead to secure the victory.
After shooting 45% in the first half of play and holding the Sharks to 35%, the Oilers struggled to find the bottom of the net in the second half. Findlay shot just 29% in the final 20 minutes of action while Nova Southeastern turned up the heat, shooting nearly 50% including 43% from deep.
For the game, the Oilers shot 22-of-60 (.367) and held a one-rebound advantage on the boards at 39-38. The big difference in the game was the Sharks ability to hit the triple. The home team draining 10-of-32 shots from deep in the contest including going 3-of-4 in the fourth quarter.
Senior Lauren Ruth and sophomore Bridget Landin each led the way for the Oilers with ten points. Ruth made a pair of triples in the game to lead the Orange and Black from deep. Landin was also the team's leading rebounder with ten, giving her a double-double.
Sophomore Paige Bellman scored nine points and had six rebounds while sophomore Sydney Kin scored seven points and was second on the team with nine rebounds. Sophomore Amber Schweiger scored eight points and junior Madison Stolly had eight points, two rebounds, and led Findlay with three assists.
For the Sharks, the performance of the day belonged to Hailey Conley. The sharpshooter scored a career-high 30 points while taking a NSU record 18 three-point attempts, making eight of those. Six of those eight makes from deep came in the second half where Conley scored 24 of her 30 points. No other player for the Sharks scored more than eight points.
Findlay is now off until after New Year's Day. Their next game will be on Thursday, January 2 against Lake Erie College. After playing eight consecutive road games spanning 44 days, that game against the Storm will be played at home. Tip off is scheduled for 5:30 pm.