Findlay Hangs on in Tiffin | Wins Fourth Straight
Tiffin, Ohio – The University of Findlay women's basketball team survived a ferocious comeback attempt on Saturday, January 11 on the road against the Tiffin Dragons, earning a 67-66 victory. With the win, the Oilers have now won four consecutive games to improve to 10-7 overall with a 6-1 record in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. The Dragons fall to 7-11 on the season and 2-5 in the conference.
By halftime of the game, the largest deficit by either was just seven points as both squads battled back and forth through the first 20 minutes of play.
Out of halftime, the Oilers turned up the pressure. Trailing 39-37 four minutes into the second half, Findlay went on a 14-0 run to establish a 51-39 lead, the largest lead of the game to that point.
That lead would extend even further in the fourth quarter when a free throw by sophomore Sydney Kin gave the road team a 59-45 lead with just under eight minutes to play in the contest.
Then it was the Dragons' turn to make a run.
Over the next seven minutes, Tiffin outscored Findlay 21-7 to erase the 14-point lead and tie the game at 66.
With 17 seconds on the clock, Findlay used a timeout and played for the final shot. Sophomore Amber Schweiger missed her attempt with two seconds left, but Sydney Kin was fouled on the rebound with just tenths of a second on the clock. She missed her first but sank her second attempt, sealing the win for the Orange and Black.
Statistically, the game was just as close as the score. Findlay held a slight advantage in field goal percentage, making 37 percent from the floor, 23-of-63, to just 33 percent, 21-of-64, for the Dragons. Rebounds (45-to-44) and assists (13-to-12) were nearly even with Tiffin holding a slight advantage in both.
Findlay did, however, dominate the paint as they have all season. The Oilers scored 40 points from in close while allowing just 20 points in the paint for Tiffin.
In a game that featured the top two teams in the country in terms of free-throws made, Findlay is first and Tiffin is second, it was the Oilers who made 19 shots from the charity stripe while the Dragons hit 17.
Sydney Kin once again put together a standout performance on Saturday as she led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-13 from the floor and 7-of-11 from the free throw line. She also had seven rebounds while teammate, sophomore Bridget Landin, led the Oilers with ten boards. Landin was the second-leading scorer for Findlay with nine points and also added three assists.
Junior Madison Stolly scored seven points and had three rebounds while sophomore Paige Bellman scored seven points and had six rebounds and two steals.
Sophomore Amber Schweiger scored five points and led the Oilers with four assists. She also had three rebounds and a steal.
The Oilers are back at home on Saturday, January 18 for the conference's marquee matchup of the week, a date with another of the co-champions from last season, the Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers. That game will tip off at 1:00 pm in Croy Gymnasium.