Cedarville, Ohio – The University of Findlay women's basketball team hit the road on Saturday, Jan. 4 for a Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) against the Cedarville Yellow Jackets and held off the home team for a 76-69 victory. With the win, the Oilers improve to 12-3 overall and 5-1 in the G-MAC while the Yellow Jackets fall to 7-6 overall and 3-2 in the conference. Findlay has now won seven straight games and 11 of the previous 12.
Facing an always-tough Cedarville team, the Oilers got off to a great start as they hit 60% from the floor in the first quarter including making a trio of three-pointers to take a 24-16 lead. That advantage reached as much as 15 in the second quarter and, through 20 minutes, Findlay was in total control as they led 41-27.
A layup by junior Alyssa Ziehler just two minutes into the second half put Findlay ahead 46-29, what would be its' largest lead of the game. CU outscored the Oilers 21-8 over the remainder of the quarter to pull within four points heading into the final frame.
Two minutes into the fourth, Cedarville got a layup from Regan Hubert that gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead since the first score of the game.
The Oilers faced a five-point deficit with just 5:35 to play in the game, but over the next five minutes, the defense became airtight, allowing UF to embark on a 13-0 run to regain control and suffocate all hope from the upset-minded Yellow Jackets.
Free throws were a major factor in Saturday's game and that was most evident in the decisive fourth quarter where the Oilers connected on 17-of-18 attempts, helping ice the win. In total, Findlay would make 32-of-35 from the charity stripe, the first time making more than 30 free-throws in a game in six years and the most since making 39 in a game against Missouri-St. Louis back in December of 2014. Those 32 free-throws made are tied for fourth-most by a team in G-MAC history.
For the game, Findlay made 19-of-41 (46%) from the floor including 6-of-13 (46%) from three while Cedarville made 22-of-56 (39%) and just 8-of-25 (32%) from deep. CU did hit 17-of-20 from the free-throw line, but that was not nearly enough to keep up with the Oilers which benefited from 22 personal fouls committed by the Lady Jackets.
Senior Kate Ellis led all scorers with 23 points in the game, putting together a historic performance from the charity stripe. Ellis canned all 16 of her free-throw attempts, tying her for a pair of records. Those 16 make are tied for the most in a game in program history, equaling the mark set by Molly Holt (2002), Laura Piehl (2009), and Lacey Kessler (2012). Ellis is also ties the record for single-game free-throw percentage, tying the mark of 100%, also a 16-for-16 performance, by Molly Holt vs. Gannon in 2002.
Ziehler scored 16 points and had seven rebounds and three steals while senior Chloe Callahan had 12 points including a 6-of-6 performance from the free-throw line.
Senior Janae Hoying had seven points and a team-high five assists.
The Oilers will be back on the road for their next contest, taking on Thomas More on Thursday, Jan. 9. That game will tip at 5:30 pm.
