Oilers Battle But Come Up Short at #5 Ashland | Rematch in 24 Hours
Ashland, Ohio – The University of Findlay women's basketball team traveled to Ashland, Ohio to take on the Ashland Eagles on Wednesday, Feb. 23. Despite being a decided underdog, the Oilers gave Ashland all it could handle, battling to a 67-60 final score in favor of the Eagles which are ranked fifth in the country in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Top-25 ranking. With the loss, Findlay falls to 13-13 overall and 11-9 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play while Ashland improves to 24-2 overall with a 19-1 record in the conference.
Findlay came out strong and proved that they came to win. Despite trailing 9-0 early, the Oilers went on 14-4 run over a five-minute stretch in the first to take their first lead of the game at 14-13. Ashland would lead 18-16 through ten minutes.
The Oilers hung around in the second, but could never quite close the gap and found themselves trailing 32-24 at the half.
In the first four minutes of the second half, Findlay turned the ball over three times which helped lead to a quick 10-2 run for Ashland, extending the home team's lead to 42-26, the largest of the game. By the end of the third quarter, the Eagles held a 52-37 lead and looked like they would cruise to another victory, but the final ten minutes would belong to the Oilers.
Ashland held a 58-47 lead with 6:37 to play, but over the next four minutes, Findlay would go on an 11-3 run, pulling within just three points with little more than two minutes remaining in the game.
The Eagles got an offensive rebound and a putback on their next possession to extend the lead to five. After a miss by the Oilers on the other end, Ashland needed to hit foul shots down the stretch, which they did, ultimately leading to a seven-point victory.
In that final quarter, Findlay outscored Ashland 23-15 and hit 10-of-16 from the floor while the Eagles made just 3-of-11. But, the home team connected on 7-of-11 from the charity stripe to offset the poor shooting from the floor, sealing the victory.
In the game, Findlay made 25-of-60 (.417) from the floor while Ashland made 25-of-64 (.463). The Eagles, whose 67 points were the least they have scored in a game since a Nov. 24 loss to Southern Indiana, held a sizeable advantage on the glass, grabbing 38 rebounds to just 29 for Findlay.
Senior Sydney Kin led Findlay with 16 points on 7-of-17 from the field. She also grabbed 10 rebounds to pick up the double-double, and added three steals and a block.
Junior Lauren Hapgood scored 14 for Findlay while shooting 4-of-10 including a pair of threes. Hapgood also had four assists. Senior Amber Schweiger led the team in that category, dishing out five helpers.
Senior Bridget Landin scored eight points and led Findlay with four steals.
Ashland's Annie Roshak was the game's leading scorer as she poured in 20 points while Macy Spielmann scored 16 and Karlee Peru notched 13.
These teams will waste no time meeting again as they will tip-off again tomorrow, Feb. 24th in Findlay for a rematch in less than 24 hours. That contest will tip off at 5:30 pm in Croy.