UNOH Topples Second Place Lourdes in Final Home Game

LIMA, OH - UNOH women's basketball had to fend off a furious Lourdes comeback Wednesday night but managed to hold onto the lead wire-to-wire for an 83-75 win.

Lourdes entered the game tied for second place in the conference standings but the Racers started hot and blew the game open in the first half. After leading 20-9 after one, UNOH pushed the lead up to 22 points by halftime shooting 61% from long range (11-18) for a massive 47-25 advantage.

That lead continued to grow into the second half and reached 26 points with 3:38 left in the third. The Gray Wolves were not prepared to roll over and began to build one of their best stretches of the season spanning the rest of the third and more than half of the fourth. Over a span of 9:30 of game time, Lourdes outscored the Racers 32-14 and pulled with four points, 72-68, with 4:08 remaining.

A big Lourdes three with 65 seconds left made it a three point game but UNOH answered right back with a three point dagger of their own to push it right back to six. The Racers were able to ice the game in the final seconds going 4-4 from the stripe to finish off one of their biggest wins of the season.

Brooke Asher led all scorers with a career high 25 points shooting 62% from the field and knocking down five three pointers in the game. Sanaiiya Gray did one better from deep hitting six triples for 18 points while Jordan Mueller and Olivia Thompson finished with 15 and 13, respectively. Lori Huffman led on the glass grabbing a game high 15 rebounds and is averaging 12.8 per game over her last four. 

As a team, UNOH dropped 16 threes on the night at a blistering 59% clip marking the program's second best three-point shooting performance ever. The win also improves the Racers to 14-3 at home this season giving them the best home winning percentage in program history (.824).

After winning four of their last five games, UNOH sits tied for sixth in the WHAC standings with one game left to play in the regular season. With a win and some help, the Racers could still finish as high as fifth but a loss could see them fall as far as eighth. The high stakes showdown will take place Saturday, February 21 at UM-Dearborn.