SALEM, W.Va. - Tiffin women's basketball was able to stave off a late rally by Salem University on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Tigers 82-80 on the road.
Three Dragons were in double figures, led by 12 from Jessica Chase. Aarion Nichols tallied 11 points and seven rebounds, while Payton Vogel added 10 points adn seix boards for the Dragons.
Jasmine Watts nearly had a double-double, recording nine rebounds and seven points along with two blocks and two steals.
Tiffin had the decisive edge from deep in the contest, hitting 9-20 triples (45%) compared to 10-27 (37%) for Salem. The Dragons also got to the free throw line a whopping 35 times, converting 27 of those attempts for a 77.1% clip.
TU also outrebounded Salem 48-31, including 22-10 on the offensive end.
The Tigers got off to a fast start, taking a 5-0 lead less than a minute into the game. Seven straight Dragon points, including a triple and layup by Savanah Richards, quickly turned things in the Dragons favor. Tiffin would go on to take a 17-16 lead at the end of the first quarter after Chase nailed a three.
Chase hit two more triples back-to-back to begin the second quarter, giving the Dragons a seven point lead. Tiffin would extend that lead to as much as nine during the first half, but a late Salem run cut it to three, 37-34, at the break.
The teams battled back and forth to begin the third, but a late run by TU capped by a Kara Gealy three would give the Dragons their biggest lead of the game at 11, 60-49 with 1:30 to go in the quarter.
Tiffin still led by nine entering the fourth, but Salem slowly chipped away throughout the frame before finally knotting the game at 80 apiece with just 13 seconds to play. Nichols stepped up to be the hero for Tiffin, hitting a jumper with three seconds remaining to thwart the Tiger comeback and send Tiffin to victory.
The Dragons remain on the road for their next game, traveling to Saginaw Valley on Wednesday with a 5:30 p.m. start.