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12.14.07
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In a game that
resembled a track meet more than a basketball game, it was the run
and gun style of NAIA Division I 24th-ranked Olivet Nazarene
University (10-3) that gave the Tigers enough cushion to withstand a
late Forester (7-4) surge and hang on for the 111-100 win.
Substituting five players at a time
every minute, ONU tried to wear out the Foresters' thin roster with
its full court, non-stop trapping and frenetic pace on offense.
The Tigers scored the first 10 points of the game by capitalizing on
five consecutive Forester turnovers. HU finally gained some
composure and trimmed the deficit to five at 15-10, but ONU
responded with an 11-0 run to take a 26-10 lead with 12:12 to play
in the half.
As the Foresters' miscues continued
to mount, the Tigers pushed the lead to 24 on a 3-pointer by
Courtney Hehn with 5:50 left in the half. HU then put together
a 16-5 run capped by a Lauren Davenport lay-up to get back within 13
at 49-36 at the three minute mark. Four more HU turnovers down
the stretch allowed ONU to take a 61-41 lead to the locker room.
Through the first six minutes of
the second half, the two teams traded baskets with HU down 79-57
with 14:02 to play. Then over the next three minutes, the
Tigers knocked down four treys and added a traditional 3-point play
to push their advantage to 95-61 midway through the half.
But HU wouldn't go away and began
chipping into ONU's lead. At the 3:16 mark, two Jenna
Donaldson free throws got the deficit below 20 at 111-93. The
Foresters then held the Tigers scoreless over the final three
minutes allowing them to get as close as 11 before time ran out on
the comeback.
HU's Davenport topped all scorers
in the game with a career-high 29 points and Donaldson added 27 points and a
game-high 10 rebounds. Erica Yost had 13 points off the bench
and Courtney Beerbower finished with 12. Maggie Sillar paced
ONU with 23 points and six boards. Hillary Disch and Hehn each
nailed five threes and finished with 19 and 18 points respectively.
The Foresters out-scored ONU 18-8
from the free throw line, but it wasn't enough to overcome the
Tigers' 17-55 performance from behind the arc. HU was 41-77
from the field for 53.2% while ONU went 43-96 for 44.8%.
Box Score
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