Oilers 'run' past Chargers, win by 14

The University of Findlay women's basketball team started Saturday's game against Hillsdale on a 12-0 run and were up 21-6 after the first ten minutes. From there, the Oilers were able to fend off any Charger run and pick up a crucial G-MAC conference win on Saturday, 81-67. It was the third win in four games for UF —all against teams above them in the conference (Kentucky Wesleyan, Cedarville and now Hillsdale). "I thought defensively, we were really getting after it, extremely active, playing with a lot of energy and I thought that carried over to the offense," UF head coach Jim Wiedie said. "Our pace was really, really good. I thought we might've gotten a little complacent there in the second quarter, we gave up 24 points in that quarter. I thought the third quarter was a little more back-and-forth and then in the fourth—other than maybe the first couple of minutes—I thought we got back to how we were playing in the first quarter. "In the games we win, we play really good defense, and we don't turn the ball over a ton." The Oilers never trailed Saturday and anytime Hillsdale made it close, UF would answer. It never felt like the Oilers weren't in control. And that was with Sydney Kin on the sidelines most of the second half with foul trouble. She finished with a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double; but Bridget Landin, Paige Bellman and Lauren Hapgood kept the Oilers ahead. They finished with a combined 25 points in the second half. "That was huge. I just trusted my teammates; I know that they could do it," Kin said. "I mean, I got myself in foul trouble, so I have no one to blame but myself. But that was huge and really proud of my teammates." Hapgood finished with a team-high 15 points with three 3s. Landin had 14 points and seven rebounds, while Bellman scored eight points and grabbed four boards. On the night, UF (8-11, 6-7 G-MAC) knocked down eight threes. "Our bigs for the most part — with Sydney, Bridget and Paige—are kind of the ones leading the charge offensively," Wiedie said. "But anytime we get help from the guards and they start hitting shots, it really starts to open things up inside. Sydney's double and triple-teamed all the time—and they doubled Paige and Bridget as well—but it makes it a lot easier when our guards hit shots. Especially with the post players we have." A 12-0 run paced them in the first 10 minutes and gave them the edge for the entire game, but the most important run came in the final 1:30. Things were tight, for the first time all game, when the Chargers' Sydney Mills knocked down a three-pointer to make it 69-65 with 1:58 left. In the last 1:30, the Oilers went 12 of 14 from the free-throw line and went on a 12-2 run to close the game and get the win. Now, the Oilers are talking about taking a stab at the conference tournament thanks to their play as of late. "I was talking to the team yesterday that—with the exception of Ursuline and Trevecca (Nazarene)—everybody we play is ahead of us (in the G-MAC)," Wiedie. "We're bunched up there with Cedarville, Malone, Tiffin and us. If we take care of business, we can kind of write our own ticket." So, what has them talking about a G-MAC tourney run? "Honestly, our defense," Kin said. The Oilers forced Hillsdale into 15 turnovers and 23 of 68 shooting. "We've been playing a lot harder on defense and coming together on defense more. And we're doing what the coaches expect out of us. Our offense has gelled a lot more and we've just been taking it game-by-game. We know what it's going to take for us to get into the (G-MAC) tournament." HILLSDALE (11-9, 8-6 G-MAC) Mills 4-11 4-5 15, Sysum 2-3 1-2 5, Salenbien 0-1 0-0 0, Nelson 3-7 0-0 6, Touchette 6-19 2-3 15, Delp 2-2 1-2 6, Callahan 0-4 0-0 0, Splain 0-9 0-0 0, Daffenberg 6-12 2-2 20. TOTALS: 23-68 10-14. FINDLAY (8-11, 6-7 G-MAC) Landin 5-16 4-4 14, Kin 5-9 3-5 14, Cooke 0-3 0-0 0, Hapgood 4-7 4-4 15, Sammarone 2-5 0-0 5, Schweiger 1-4 5-6 7, Hoying 2-6 3-3 7, Ellis 2-4 0-0 4, Bellman 3-4 2-2 8, Callahan 2-2 1-2 7. TOTALS: 26-60 21-25 81. HILLSDALE 6 24 23 14—67 FINDLAY 21 20 21 19—81 3-POINT GOALS: Hillsdale 11-34 (Mills 3-8, Touchette 1-6, Delp 1-1, Callahan 0-3, Splain 0-6, Daffenberg 6-10); Findlay 8-23 (Landin 0-3, Kin 1-2, Cooke 0-2, Hapgood 3-6, Sammarone 1-1, Schweiger 0-1, Hoying 1-5, Ellis 0-1, Callahan 2-2). REBOUNDS: Hillsdale 44 (Touchette 8, Mills 7); Findlay 39 (Kin 12, Landin 7). ASSISTS: Hillsdale 10 (Salenbien 3, Nelson 3, Touchette 3); Findlay 17 (Schweiger 4). BLOCKS: Hillsdale 2; Findlay 4. STEALS: Hillsdale 3 (Nelson 2); Findlay 5 (Hoying 2). TURNOVERS: Hillsdale 15; Findlay 10.