Lady Jackets Fight Back, Come Up Short

The Cedarville women’s basketball team lost on their home court Saturday night, falling to Ohio Dominican University, 69-70.

It was an offensive struggle for both teams early, as they mustered only twenty-three points between them in the first ten minutes of action. The Lady Jackets struggled to find a rhythm as the Panthers switched their defense between playing man-to-man and a 2-3 zone. The offenses found more of a rhythm as the half wore on, with the Panthers taking a 33-28 lead at the half.

Ohio Dominican started well the second half, forcing Cedarville coach Kirk Martin to take a timeout 4:31 into the half after the Panthers had taken a 12-point lead.

Cedarville fought back, cutting the lead to one on a Deborah Chandler three pointer shortly after the under twelve media timeout, forcing a Panther timeout. The Jackets took the lead shortly thereafter on a three pointer by Kayla Jenerette, and the teams traded baskets for a while.

With the score tied, Jenerette drove and turned the ball over, leading to a breakaway layup by the Panthers with 20 seconds left. A turnover on the inbounds pass after a Cedarville timeout forced the Lady Jackets to foul with nine seconds remaining. Ohio Dominican made both free throws, and Raegan Ryan made a three as time expired, making the final score 69-70.

Martin said he wants to focus more on the defensive end: rebounding and “buckling down and giving them nothing” down the stretch.

Jenerette led the Lady Jackets with 15 points, Ryan added 12 points and six assists, and Deborah Gordon had eleven points and eight rebounds.

With the loss, Cedarville moves to 1-2 on the season. They travel to Mount Vernon Nazarene University on Tuesday before hosting Tiffin next Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Callan Athletic Center.

Tyler Greenwood is a freshman mechanical engineering major and a sports reporter for Cedars. He can be followed on Twitter at @tgreenwood413