UF gives bounce-back performance against KWC

FINDLAY– Following Thursday's demoralizing 79-63 loss to Thomas More, the Oilers might've hung their heads going into Saturday's contest against Kentucky Wesleyan, its fifth consecutive home game.The Oilers, however, were ready to play. Findlay came out with high energy from the very beginning, despite the Wildcats jumping out to an early 8-0 start, thanks to three consecutive Oiler turnovers. When coach Michele Durand subbed in the bench unit, though, everything changed. Forward MacKenzie Schulz, who is one of the Oilers' best players and normally a starter, was moved to the bench on Saturday, bringing a spark to Findlay's reserve lineup. Schulz scored seven straight points, tying things at 15 apiece. Findlay's starting group checked back in, and used the momentum from Schulz' scoring outburst to extend the Oiler lead to 21-15 at the end of the first."MacKenzie's a great player," Durand said. "I didn't not start her for a punishment, it was more the way we were gonna play today. I thought she handled it great."As the second quarter got underway, Schulz connected on yet another three-pointer to extend the UF lead. Schulz would finish with 17 points, hitting three triples to go with six rebounds and three assists in 18 minutes. Another Oiler who had a big second quarter was graduate senior Ariyah Douglas. Douglas went down with a season-ending injury last year after just six games, and has begun to find her stride for the Oilers. "I think it's been a long time coming," Douglas said. "I've just been putting in the work, and I think it shows." Douglas hit a three-pointer, and then made her first of several wide-open layups that came off her own steals on the perimeter. Douglas finished with 15 points, three steals, and two blocks in 16 minutes. "Ariyah played like how we know Ariyah can play," Durand said. "She's been injured, she's had lots of issues and finally played well today. Had some really big steals for us. Ariyah can find people on the perimeter, and she can score. She had a great day today, I'm proud of her."The Findlay lead grew to 14 in the second quarter, but Kentucky Wesleyan wasn't quite done yet. Several strong Wildcat possessions cut the Findlay lead in half, before Douglas once again came up big to swing things back in the Oilers' direction. Douglas hit a contested turnaround jumper from mid-range, and blocked a Wildcats' three-point attempt on the next possession. After the Oilers extended their lead back to 10, Douglas notched another steal-and-score to move her total to 12 points before the half. "We had a really hard week of practice, just stayed locked in and bounced back," Douglas said."(Lots of) defensive intensity. Just keeping that up and trying to stay consistent."The second half was virtually all Findlay, as the lead ballooned to 20 as the third quarter came to a close, and went all the way to 29 by the final buzzer. Post player Alyssa Ziehler continued her domination inside for the Oilers, finishing with 17 points, nine rebounds, and two blocks. Point guard Taylor Stanley had one of her strongest offensive outputs of the year, notching nine points, four rebounds, and three assists. "I felt like our energy was perfect all through the game," Durand said. "We've not been having great second halves, but I thought today we came out with a lot of good energy."Aubri Spicer recorded seven points, two rebounds, and two assists in just 12 minutes of action. Combo guard Allie Stockton put up six points, four assists, two rebounds, and two steals, while Ella Mescher also had six points. Forward Addisyn Freeman stuffed the stat sheet with four points, six rebounds, and four assists. "I can't even describe how happy I am right now," Durand added. "It was a great effort by everyone, just outstanding. We put a game plan together yesterday, and they did it to a tee today."Kentucky Wesleyan was led by Mya Montgomery, who hit a trio of three-pointers, scoring 15 points along with five rebounds and three assists. Emma Bruwer had 11 points and three steals. Riley Neal posted six points and a team-high eight rebounds, and Georgia Acompanado added six points, three rebounds, four assists, and two steals. The Oilers moved to 4-3 with Saturday's win, and will travel to Walsh on Thursday at 5:30 for another G-MAC test before hosting Northwood at 1 on Saturday. KY. WESLEYANMontgomery 6-0–15, Bruwer 3-4–11, Neal 3-0–6, Acompanado 3-0–6, Kapteijn 2-0–5, Jonsdottir 2-0–4, Sisk 2-0-4, Amorrortu Sainz 1-0–3, Stinebrickner 1-0–3, Hoagland 1-0–3, Shehan 1-0–3. TOTALS: 25-4–63.FINDLAYSchulz 6-2–17, Ziehler 6-5–17, Douglas 6-1–15, Stanley 3-2–9, Spicer 2-3–7, Stockton 3-0–6, Mescher 3-0–6, French 2-0–5, Freeman 1-2–4, Auchmuty 1-0–3, E. Thorbahn 0-2–2, Schalk 0-1–1. TOTALS: 33-18–92.Ky. Wesleyan 15 18 16 14–63Findlay 21 24 24 23–92THREE-POINT FIELD GOALS: Ky. Wesleyan 9-33 (Montgomery 3); Findlay 8-24 (Schulz 3).REBOUNDS: Ky. Wesleyan 36 (Neal 8); Findlay 41 (Ziehler 9).TURNOVERS: Ky. Wesleyan 23, Findlay 16.