TIFFIN, Ohio - After a pesky Ohio Valley squad hung around for the first half, Tiffin women's basketball came alive in the third quarter with a 26-13 run that led the Dragons to a 71-64 victory over the Fighting Scots on Saturday.
With the win, Tiffin has now picked up victories in five of their last seven games heading into the final contest of the regular season next Saturday. With the win and both Lake Erie and Trevecca Nazarene losing this afternoon, the Dragons have all but secured a postseason berth, now sitting in seventh in the conference point rating system.
The win definitely did not come easy, however, as the Dragons trailed by four at halftime after struggling to hit shots in the opening 20 minutes. The third quarter was an entirely different story, though, as TU opened the third with a 21-4 run that was capped by a triple and a jumper from Brooke Wesner.
The Scots fought back early in the fourth, taking a one-point lead, 52-51, on a triple with just over six minutes left, but another three from Wesner on the next possession put the lead back in Tiffin's favor for good.
Wesner's triple ignited a 14-4 run for Tiffin, taking an eight-point lead with three minutes to play. From there, it was just a matter of making free throws down the stretch as Tiffin earned their second win over Ohio Valley on the season.
Wesner finished with 17 points and four threes, while it was Savanah Richards who led the Dragons with 19 points, including going 12-14 from the free-throw line, grabbing seven rebounds, and recording four steals.
Aarion Nichols just barely missed a triple-double, registering 14 points, a career-high 16 rebounds, and six assists.
Jensen Hiegel and Jada Tate both added seven rebounds for Tiffin as well, as the Dragons dominated the Fighting Scots 54-40 on the glass, including a whopping 22 offensive rebounds. Tiffin also only turned the ball over nine times while forcing 12 OVU giveaways.
As mentioned, the final game of the regular season comes next Saturday when the Dragons host Kentucky Wesleyan on Senior Day at 1:00 p.m.