After coming on strong with wins in four of their last six games, Tiffin women's basketball will look to keep their hold on the seven-seed for the conference tournament as they host Ohio Valley on Saturday in the penultimate regular-season contest.
The game will also serve as the annual Play4Kay Breast Cancer Awareness 'Pink Game'. The Play4Kay event is a national event that is sponsored by the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Named in honor of the late Kay Yow, a former collegiate women's basketball coach, the Kay Yow Cancer Fund has awarded more than $7.5 million in cancer research grants nationwide.
Prior to the game, the Dragons will be honoring Kim Peplinksi from Findlay and Deb, who are currently both undergoing treatment for breast cancer. They will be presented at halfcourt and serve as honorary sixth women for the game.
For additional information about the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, visit www.kayyow.com.
Game Information:
Tiffin Dragons (11-15, 6-10 GMAC) vs
Ohio Valley Fighting Scots (3-18, 1-14 GMAC)
Saturday, Feb. 22 | 1:00 p.m.
Tiffin, Ohio | Gillmor Center
Video | Live Stats
Dragon Details:
As mentioned, Tiffin has won four of their last six, and the Dragons are making a push for the postseason with just two games left on the regular-season schedule. According to the new rating system that will be used by the conference to determine playoff seeding, TU is currently seventh with eight teams making the GMAC Championships.
As a team, the Dragons are second in the GMAC with 40.3 rebounds per game and first with 12.8 offensive boards per game. TU also ranks second in three-point field goal percentage defense at 29.3% and fifth in assist-to-turnover ratio at 0.86.
Aarion Nichols powers Tiffin from the guard position, ranking ninth in the GMAC with 14.9 points per game and seventh with 7.1 rebounds per game. The sophomore is also tied for eighth with 3.2 assists per game.
Brooke Wesner is next in scoring with 8.5 points per game. Freshman Savanah Richards has also been very impressive as of late, bringing her scoring average up to 8.3 points per game after six-straight double-digit outings, including a career-best 30-point output last Saturday at Findlay.
Scouting the Fighting Scots:
Ohio Valley enters the week with just one win in conference play, coming all the way back on Dec. 7 at home against Hillsdale. Since then, the Fighting Scots do have two wins, but both coming against out-of-conference opponents.
The Dragons and Fighting Scots met earlier this season on Jan. 4 in Vienna, with Tiffin riding a 45-19 first-half advantage to a 75-46 victory. The 29-point advantage was the largest margin of victory for the program in a conference game since Dec. 1, 2011, when the Dragons also won by 29 points in a 78-49 victory over Ferris State while a member of the GLIAC. Nichols led Tiffin with 17 points and 15 rebounds, while Jada Tate had 10 points off the bench.
Imani Ward is OVU's go-to player, ranking fifth in the GMAC with 16.3 points per game, first with 9.7 rebounds per game, fourth with a 53.9% field goal rate, and third with 2.1 steals per game. Akiya Brown is the other Scot averaging double figures in scoring with 12.2 points per game.