Hapgood's pair of late 3s propel Oiler women over KWC

In the fourth quarter of the University of Findlay women's basketball game against Kentucky Wesleyan, there were ten lead changes. The Oilers were up one, then down one every time the ball went up and down the floor. With 2:53 left, Lauren Hapgood put the Oilers up two with a 3, 57-55, after trailing 55-54. She then put them up five 37 seconds later and the Oilers never looked back, snapping their losing streak and beating the Panthers, 68-60 on Thursday. "That was huge," Hapgood said of her back-to-back threes. She finished with a team-high 13 points off the bench. "We kind of had the momentum for most of the game and that gave us the momentum to finish it out. We knew it was going to be this was going to be a tough game, so that was really important." It was the first win for coach Jim Wiedie's team since December 31. "I think this was the best this team's looked defensively all year long," Wiedie said. "This team (KWC) always scares because of how physical they are and how they get up and guard you." The Oilers forced the Panthers into 11 second-half turnovers, 19 in the game and allowed them to shoot just 37 percent from the floor. "I thought we came out really strong," Hapgood said. "Sometimes we struggle to keep that energy up the whole game, but I thought we did a good job keeping it up through the whole game no matter who was in. It really helped us finish it out strong. "When we're doing well on the defensive end, it translates to the offense, which is why we were able to make shots today and why we were able to get the win." The Oilers finished 8 of 16 from behind the 3-point line and hit five in the final 20 minutes. Hopefully for the Oilers and Wiedie, it's a changing of the tide. "One of the things that's plagued us this year has been the inconsistency of hitting perimeter shots. Lauren, Janae, Chloe (Callahan) — you know we've got kids that can shoot, it's just for whatever reason it's been one of those years where the ball's just not going in," he said. "But tonight, we took advantage of some skip passes that we worked on, we were just fortunate enough to get some looks and the kids converted." KENTUCKY WESLEYAN (11-6, 8-3 G-MAC) Barga 4-7 0-0 10, Nolot 2-7 2-2 6, Richardson 2-4 0-0 5, Conley 1-5 0-0 3, Hoosier 2-7 0-2 5, Johnson 2-6 0-0 6, McDonald 1-2 5-6 8, Walton 5-11 4-4 14, Leis 0-1 0-0 0, Hammelman 1-1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 20-51 11-14 60 FINDLAY (6-10, 4-6 G-MAC) Landin 3-3 2-3 8, Kin 4-8 4-4 12, Hoying 4-7 0-1 11, Ellis 1-2 0-0 3, Sammarone 2-5 2-2 6, Schweiger 0-5 5-6 5, Hapgood 4-7 1-2 13, Callahan 0-2 0-0 0, Bellman 1-1 2-2 4, Cooke 1-5 0-0 2, Flynn 2-2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 22-47 16-20 68. Kentucky Wesleyan 15 12 16 17—60 Findlay 11 15 19 23—68 3-POINT GOALS: Kentucky Wesleyan 9-27 (Barga 2-4, Nolot 0-1, Richardson 1-2, Conley 1-4, Hoosier 1-5, Johnson 2-5, McDonald 1-2, Walton 0-2, Leis 0-1, Hammelman 1-1); Findlay 8-16 (Hoying 3-4, Ellis 1-2, Sammarone 0-1, Schweiger 0-1, Hapgood 4-5, Callahan 0-1, Cooke 0-2). REBOUNDS: Kentucky Wesleyan 27 (Barga 7); Findlay 33 (Kin 11). ASSISTS: Kentucky Wesleyan 8 (McDonald 2, Hoosier 2, Walton 2); Findlay 14 (Sammarone 3). BLOCKS: Kentucky Wesleyan 1; Findlay 4 (Kin 2). STEALS: Kentucky Wesleyan 15 (Barga 3); Findlay 10 (Sammarone 2, Schweiger 2). TURNOVERS: Kentucky Wesleyan 19; Findlay 24.