Schweiger's Career-High Leads Oilers in Comeback Win vs. Malone
Findlay, Ohio – The University of Findlay women's basketball team rallied from a 16-point deficit on Thursday, Jan. 30 against the Malone University Pioneers to earn an 85-79 victory at home. The win sees the Oilers' record improve to 11-9 overall and 7-3 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play while the Pioneers fall to 13-6 overall and take just their second conference loss of the season, now with a record of 7-2 in the G-MAC.
The three-point shot was a major factor in Thursday's contest, but despite taking 27 less triple attempts than Malone, it was Findlay that capitalized from beyond the arc to spark a comeback and eventually the win.
Sophomore Lilly Simon drilled the first big three-point shot of the game for Findlay, a fadeaway triple at the buzzer, ending the first quarter. The shot pulled Findlay to within 12 points after trailing by 16 just minutes earlier.
The next big triple again came at the buzzer, this time to end the third quarter. Findlay clawed their way back into the game and as the clock hit zero, sophomore Amber Schweiger nailed a three pointer from just inside half court to tie the game at 67-67, giving the Orange and Black all the momentum heading into the final ten minutes.
Findlay then outscored the Pioneers 18-12 in the final quarter to secure the victory and improve their spot in the conference standings against a quality conference opponent.
In a game that felt like Malone could not miss, it was actually the Oilers who came away with a red-hot shooting percentage. Findlay made 31-of-53 from the floor for 59 percent while the Pioneers hit 30-of-71 for 42 percent. Malone made eight more threes than the Oilers, but took 44 from deep compared to just 17 for Findlay, who shot a season-best 53 percent from deep.
The sophomore quartet of Amber Schweiger, Sydney Kin, Bridget Landin, and Paige Bellman put the team on their backs in Thursday's win. Schweiger led the way with a career-high 20 points, nine of which came at the free-throw line. She also tied a career-high with eight assists to round out one of the best games of her young career.
Kin chipped in 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, grabbed six rebounds, and led the team with two blocked shots while Landin scored 13 points and had three rebounds. Paige Bellman almost had a double-double, scoring 11 points and collecting nine rebounds. Bellman was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Lilly Simon scored eight points on a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor including a 2-for-2 performance from deep. She also had two rebounds.
Leading the way for Malone was Holly Groff who wowed fans in Croy with her hot shooting, scoring 37 points on 11-of-20 from three-point range.
Findlay returns to Croy for another important game on Saturday, Feb. 1 when they play host to the 14th ranked team in the country, the Walsh Cavaliers.