COLUMBUS, Ohio – Unbeaten Ohio Dominican dominated the backboards at both ends of the court and held West Liberty scoreless over the final 3:37 here Tuesday night to pull out a 73-69 upset of the No. 21-ranked Hilltoppers at Alumni Hall.
The teams battled to a 32-32 tie at halftime but West Liberty (2-1) seemed on the verge of breaking the game open in the third quarter. Coach
Lynn Ullom's Hilltoppers pushed out to a 52-45 lead on a
Liz Flowers 3-pointer with
4:24on the clock and followed that up with four straight defensive stops. The Black and Gold came up empty on all four possessions, however, and the Panthers (3-0) had dodged a bullet.
Granted the reprieve, ODU eventually was able to close out the quarter with a 7-0 run to forge a 54-54 tie heading into a nerve-wracking fourth quarter which featured 4 ties and 7 lead changes.
Back-to-back baskets by Tori Beth Leader put Ohio Dominican up, 64-61, with just under 6 minutes remaining but WLU's Kiki Simpson powered inside for a hoop and true freshman
Brandi Beader followed with a clutch 3-pointer for a 66-64 West Liberty lead at
4:49.
A basket and a free throw put the Panthers back on top, 67-66, as the clock ticked under 4 minutes but Beader answered with another 3-pointer from deep in the corner to give the Hilltoppers a 69-67 edge with 3:37 to play. Unfortunately for the visitors, those proved to be their final points of the night.
Ohio Dominican's Melissa Scherpenberger knotted the score at 69-69 with two free throws at the 1:23 mark and the Panthers got the ball right back when WLU committed a turnover on the offensive end.
Leader scored on a driving layup with 57 seconds left to give ODU a 71-69 lead. West Liberty's
Kailee Howe split a pair of defenders and got a good look on a 6-foot runner only to see it rim out with 40 seconds to go.
Ohio Dominican ran some time off the clock on its next possession but air-balled a 3-pointer and the Hilltoppers sprinted back downcourt with a chance to tie or take the lead.
The clock ticked down into single digits as West Liberty worked the ball around and Beader was fouled as she rose for a 3-point attempt with just 4 seconds remaining.
Unable to get either of the first two free throws to drop, Beader was able to draw iron with an intentional miss on the third shot but ODU's Darian Rose won the rebounding scramble and wrapped up the scoring with two more free throws. It was the 52nd rebound of the night for the Panthers, who finished with a whopping 52-31 edge off the glass.
Flowers led all scorers with 25 points while Howe added 13 points and 9 assists. Simpson finished with 11 points and 5 rebounds while Beader posted the first double-digit night of her college career with 10 points.
Leader paced Ohio Dominican with 17 points and 8 rebounds while Scherpenberg added 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Lauren Bates rounded out the Panthers' double-digit scorers with 10 points.
The West Liberty women will try to rebound on Saturday when they open Mountain East Conference play on the road at Notre Dame in a rematch of last season's MEC Tournament championship game. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. in South Euclid, Ohio.
