Feb. 21, 2009

Final Stats

The University of Northwestern Ohio was facing #23 Walsh University on Saturday night. The Racers, who were already locked into the #4 seed in the AMC tournament, were looking to be the spoilers of the AMC as Walsh needed a win to automatically qualify for the National Tournament. The Lady Racers torched the nets and pulled off the upset as UNOH defeated Walsh 95-81.

The Lady Racers quickly stomped on the visiting Cavaliers as they stormed out to a 15-4 lead 5 minutes into the game. The Lady Racers continued to dominate Walsh the rest of the first half as UNOH extended the lead to 36-15, it's largest of the first half. Walsh would get the deficit down to 12, but would enter the break trailing by 15 at 50-35.

To start the second half, Walsh looked as if they were getting their rhythm back as they used a 7-0 run out of the gates to cut the lead to 8 at 50-42. A crucial part of the second half followed as UNOH countered with a 10-0 run to put the lead back to 18 at 63-45 with 14:56 left in the game.

The lead would reach its largest of the game at 22 with 8:34 left in the game. The Lady Racers would cruise the rest of the way home in the upset and a 95-81 final. The 95 points scored by UNOH was their highest total of the season.

Freshman Ashley Jackson led the Lady Racers with 21 points, 8 steals, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds. Freshman Amanda Francis totaled 20 points, including 7 of 7 from the free throw line. Senior Stacy Feathers had 15 points on the night for UNOH. Rounding out the double digit scoring was Sophomore Tara Olberding with 12 points.

With the win, the Lady Racers knocked Walsh University out of the #2 spot in the league, which would have been an automatic qualifier to the NAIA National Tournament. Now, Walsh will be the #1 seed in the American Mideast Conference Tournament and will have to win the tournament to earn the third bid for the AMC.

The Lady Racers will be the #4 seed in the tournament and will fight for the third and final bid for the AMC. UNOH will play host to Mt. Vernon Nazarene University on Tuesday night with the tip set for 5:30 pm. The Lady Racers split the season series against Mt. Vernon. At Mt. Vernon on November 15, MVNU downed UNOH 65-45. In the conference matchup at UNOH on January 17th, the Lady Racers won 80-63.