Local Sports

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Women's Basketball: UF posts 54-51 regional victory

HOUGHTON, Mich. -- It wasn't enough for the University of Findlay women's basketball team to just be in the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history.

The Oilers want to make a little noise as well, and they did just that Saturday afternoon with a thrilling 54-51 win over Wisconsin-Parkside in a regional quarterfinal at Michigan Tech's SDC Gymnasium.

Laura Bardall drilled a jumper to break a 51-51 tie with 1:22 to play and Megan Sellers split two free throws to seal the deal and set up a semifinal at 4 p.m. today with top-seeded Michigan Tech (29-2).

MTU waxed Northern Kentucky 69-49 in its quarterfinal game on Friday. Drury (27-6) and Northern Michigan (20-9) will play in the first semifinal at 1:30 p.m.

UF head coach Kate Cummings was thrilled just to get her team into the tourney, but she could sense her team wasn't just happy to be playing during the second weekend of March.

"It was a big accomplishment for us after everything we've had to deal with," Cummings said. "We worked so hard for this and we were able to come out of here with a win. I thought our win was all about effort. We fought for everything and that is what you have to do at this level."

Audra Mihalic drove the lane and drew a foul with just over five minutes to play. She converted on the three-point play and gave the Oilers a 47-44 lead.

Brittany Hogen answered with a three-point play for Parkside to tie the score at 49-49.

The score was knotted again at 51-51 before Bardall delivered under pressure.

"We've been in so many close games this year," Cummings said. "That helped us prepare for a game like this. We learned from those past experiences and knew what we needed to do to win."

Bardall scored 13 points to pace the Oilers and Mihalic pumped in 12. UF shot 36.7 percent (22 of 60) and held the Rangers to 33.7 percent (19 of 57) shooting from the field.

The Oilers were particularly tough on the 3-point line, forcing the Rangers to connect on just one of 10 long-range attempts. Jadee Rooney, who came in with 54 treys, was 1 of 7.

"She is a great shooter and we had a good game plan for her," Cummings said. "We didn't want her getting good looks at the basket."

The Oilers showed no signs of nerves in the opening half, building a 15-10 lead before the Rangers battled back. UF took a one-point lead into halftime on a layup by Mihalic.

The Oilers shot only 34 percent in the opening half while the Rangers shot 38 percent.

But they managed to hang on in the second half, trading baskets with the Rangers in a game where neither team could grab the momentum.

Hogen paced the Rangers with 18 points. Rooney scored 11 in the first half and just two in the second half.

UF and MTU will be meeting for the third time. The Huskies defeated the Oilers 82-70 in Houghton and escaped Croy Gymnasium with a 73-69 double overtime victory last month.

UNIVERSITY OF FINDLAY (22-8)

Sellers 2-3 1-2 5, Nelson 2-5 0-0 4, Mihalic 5-9 1-1 12, Gompers 2-3 0-0 6, Bardall 6-20 0-2 13, Andrews 0-1 2-2 2, Brown 1-8 2-2 4, Vorst 4-11 0-0 8. TOTALS: 22-60 6-9--54.

Wisconsin-Parkside (23-8)

Beyer 5-12 0-0 10, Hogen 6-15 6-9 18, Gibson 1-7 4-5 6, Moran 0-3 0-0 0, Rooney 5-15 2-2 13, Bettiga 1-3 0-0 2, Selk 1-2 0-1 2, Ruchti 0-0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 19-57 12-17--51.

HALFTIME: Findlay, 26-25.

3-Point GOALS: Findlay 4-11 (Gompers 2-3, Bardall 1-3, Mihalic 1-3, Brown 0-2); Wisconsin-Parkside 1-10 (Rooney 1-7, Bettiga 0-2, Gibson 0-1).

Rebounds: Wisconsin-Parkside 45 (Hogen 14, Beyer 9); Findlay 37 (Sellers 8).

STEALS: Findlay 7 (Sellers & Brown 2); Wisconsin-Parkside 4 (Hogen 2). ASSISTS: Findlay 8 (Sellers, Mihalic & Bardall 2); Wisconsin-Parkside 7 (Selk & Gibson 2). BLOCKED SHOTS: Wisconsin-Parkside 6 (Hogen & Gibson 2); Findlay 5 (Nelson 3).

Turnovers: Wisconsin-Parkside 18, Findlay 12.

FOULS: Findlay 17, Wisconsin-Parkside 12.

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