Dayton, Ohio – The University of Findlay women's basketball team traveled to Dayton, Ohio for an exhibition game against the Wright State University Raiders on Tuesday, Nov. 26. Despite the game not counting towards its' record, the Oilers came away with a 65-64 victory, its' first win against an NCAA Division I opponent since defeating Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne back in 2017.
Findlay jumped out to an 11-3 lead through the first four minutes of play and took a 20-14 advantage through one quarter. That lead remained as UF would not trail for the entirety of the first half, leading 33-29 at the half.
Wright State dominated the early parts of the third quarter, outscoring the Oilers 21-9 over the first 7:23 of the frame to build its' biggest lead of the night at 50-42. Findlay responded by scoring the final six points of the third, trailing by just two with ten minutes to play.
Trailing by six points with just under five minutes to play, the Oilers went on a 10-0 run to take a 64-60 lead. Over that stretch, senior Kate Ellis scored eight points.
In the waning seconds, the Raiders had a chance to tie the game, earning a pair of free-throws while facing a two-point deficit. The second attempt was missed, leaving the Orange and Black in front 65-64. A foul just before the buzzer sent Ellis to the line, and after a pair of misses, the second of which was intentional, the clock hit zero with the Oilers on top.
Findlay shot 23-of-57 (40%) from the floor including 5-of-18 (28%) from three-point range. The Oilers held a 39-to-31 advantage on the glass including grabbing 14 offensive rebounds.
Ellis led the way with 15 points while shooting just 3-of-11 from the floor. The bulk of her production came from the charity stripe where she drilled 9-of-12. She also had four rebounds and two assists.
Sophomore MacKenzie Schulz scored 12 points and sophomore Taylor Stanley added 11. Junior Alyssa Ziehler had six points and led the team with ten rebounds.
The Oilers are back in action on Thursday, Dec. 5 with a game against Malone University, opening up Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. That contest will tip at 5:30 pm.
