Tiffin, Ohio - Tiffin women's basketball used a 20-8 third-quarter advantage to pull away from Ohio Dominican on Saturday afternoon and take a 65-56 victory.

With the win, the Dragons improve to 1-0 on the new season and give first-year head coach Miriam Justinger her first career win as a head coach.

Tiffin's defense was the story of the game, as the Dragons held ODU to just 17-62 (27.4%) from the field and 11-37 (29.7%) from deep. TU also crushed the Panthers on the boards, finishing with a 49-38 rebounding advantage. 

Aarion Nichols led all scorers with 19 points and secured the ninth double-double of her career with 13 rebounds.

Jada Tate and Savanah Richards both chipped in 11 points to round out TU's double-figure scoring. Kirsten Williams also pulled down eight boards and recorded five steals to go along with six points.

Ohio Dominican got off to a great start, taking leads of 18-13 after the first quarter and 34-26 at halftime.

It was the third quarter, though, where the momentum shifted entirely to the Dragons. Tiffin opened the period with 13-straight points, including a great and-one finish from Jensen Hiegel, to take a 39-34 lead at the 5:44 mark. 

ODU stopped the bleeding with a triple, but back-to-back baskets from Jasmine Watts and Nichols gave Tiffin a six-point advantage with 3:07 to go in the quarter.

Tiffin entered the final period with a four-point lead, but the Panthers were able to cut it to just one at 50-49 with 5:51 to play. The Dragons quickly put an end to the comeback, however, scoring seven points in a row for an eight-point lead with two minutes left.

After that, it was just a matter of converting free throws and Tiffin came away with the 65-56 victory.