CEDARVILLE, Ohio – The Ohio Dominican University women's basketball team upset the No. 13 ranked Yellow Jackets of Cedarville University on Tuesday night as they escaped the Callan Athletic Center with a 62-57 AMC win. The win was the Panthers fourth consecutive and 5^th of 6^th over Cedarville.

The Yellow Jackets started the game on fire, jumping out to a quick 9-2 lead at the 15:17 mark of the opening half. A 7-0 run for the Panthers gave the visitors their first lead that grew to 14-9 at the 12:09 mark. Cedarville answered right back with an 8-0 spurt that gave them the lead they would hold most of the first half. The hosts led at the break, 29-26.  more

A lay-up by sophomore Melissa Hersey (Cincinnati, OH) brought the Panthers within one, 29-28, but another six point burst from the Yellow Jackets gave Cedarville a 37-30 lead with 17:09 remaining in regulation. ODU responded with a run of their own, sparked by senior Amanda Ritzler's (Tiffin, OH) 3-point shooting to give the Panthers a 49-44 lead with eight minutes remaining. The visitors increased their lead to as many as eight points with less than five minutes left, but the Yellow Jackets had one more run left in them. With 1:33 remaining and the game tied at 57, ODU scored the games final five points to steal the AMC contest.

ODU was led by Ritzler, who finished with 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. Ritzler was joined by freshman Meredith Fox (Springboro, OH) who added 14 points in 13 minutes of action. Hersey chipped in with 10 points and dished out nine assists in the AMC win. Cedarville was led by Rachel Hurley and Alison Lemon who each finished with 14 points apiece.

The Panthers, 8-7 (2-0), will return to action on Friday, January 9^th when they welcome Roberts Wesleyan College to Alumni Hall for another conference showdown. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m.

CEDARVILLE, Ohio – The NAIA Division II No. 5 Yellow Jackets marched to their ninth straight win by methodically disposing of Ohio Dominican, 87-65, in an American Mideast Conference game. Cedarville is currently 17-1 overall which equals the school mark for the best record through 18 games.

Cedarville, who entered the contest leading the NAIA nationally in field goal percentage defense at 36.8 percent, held the Panthers to 33 percent shooting for the game. ODU made just 7-of-26 shots in the first half as the Jackets built a 30-22 margin.  more

The visitors inched as close to three points early in the second half, but the Yellow Jackets Chris Beals fueled a seven-point spurt with one of his four three-pointers in the game.   Beals scored a game high 21 points on the night. The Panthers second half run came early in the half as freshman Dominic Russo (Sagamore Hills, OH) nailed two 3-pointers to bring ODU to within three points with just over 17 minutes to play.   That would be all the closer the Panthers would get as the Yellow Jackets regained a comfortable cushion.

Ohio Dominican wasn't able to answer as Cedarville, 2-0 in the AMC , gradually pulled away in the second half at the Callan Athletic Center .   The Yellow Jackets continued to extend their lead and ran off eight consecutive points creating their largest lead of the game, 78-55, with 4:15 left.

Ohio Dominican was led by senior Donald Suel (Columbus, OH) with 20 points.   He was joined in double figures by Adriene Rodriguez (Lorian, OH) with 16 points and three assists.   Bryan West (Coshocton, OH) led the Panthers with nine rebounds.

Cedarville was led by Beals with 21 points and Ricardo Alliman picked up his eighth double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Daniel Rose came off the bench with 15 points and Grant Walker added 11.

Ohio Dominican, now 8-8 and 1-1 in the AMC , returns to action on Friday, January 9th as they host Roberts Wesleyan College in a conference showdown with the Raiders.   Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

COLUMBUS , Ohio – Ohio Dominican's Adriene Rodriguez scored a game high 24 points to lead the Panthers men's basketball team to their first conference victory of the 2008-09 season on Saturday afternoon in Houghton , New York .   The Panthers used a late first half run and a solid second half to defeat the Highlanders, 71-56.

Rodriguez, a 5-foot-9 guard from Lorian, Ohio , led the Panthers in double figures tying a season high with 24 points.   Rodriguez connected on 7-of-9 shooting for the night including 3-of-5 from behind the 3-point stripe.  more

Houghton got off to a strong start on their home court as they jumped out to an early lead.   The Highlanders took advantage of a five point swing with 8:43 to play in the first half, giving them their largest lead of the game, 22-16.   ODU answered with a 3-pointer by freshman Dominic Russo (Sagamore Hills, OH), one of four on the game, to cut the lead to three.   The Panthers would come storming back, going on a 12-3 run to take a 36-29 lead into the break.

Ohio Dominican picked up where they left off in the first half as they shot 53 percent for the game.   The ODU defense forced 20 turnovers and held the Highlanders to just 27 second half points.

Freshman forward Zak Kapron (Malvern, OH) scored three of his season high seven point's midway through the half as he scored an easy two while being fouled on the play.   Kapron nailed the free throw to complete the 3-point play putting ODU up 16, their largest lead of the game.   Houghton would cut the lead to single digits with two minutes to go, but clutch free throws down the stretch gave the Panthers the win.   Rodriguez connected on 7-of-8 from the charity stripe to lead the way.  

Joining Rodriguez in double figures was Russo with 14 and Donald Suel (Columbus, OH) and Bryan West (Coshocton, OH) who each finished with 11 points.

Houghton was led by Anzuluni with 17 points and Ryan Shay with 10.   The Highlanders fall to 3-8 on the year and 0-1 in the AMC .

Ohio Dominican, now 8-7 and 1-0 in AMC action, returns to the court this Tuesday as they travel to Cedarville University for another conference doubleheader with the women's team.   The ODU women will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. followed by the men at 8 p.m.   The game can be heard live on WVKO 1580 AM or by logging on to RadiODU or pressboxproductions.net.

Houghton , New York – The Ohio Dominican women's basketball team picked up their first conference victory on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Houghton Highlanders, 76-56.   The Panthers scored early and often as they were able to take control of the game to hand Houghton their first loss in conference play this year.

ODU jumped out to an early lead as they took a 10-4 advantage within the first three minutes of play.   The Highlanders regained confidence as they swapped lead changes with the Panthers early in the first half. The ODU offense answered back with an easy lay-up by Melissa Hersey (Cincinnati, OH) and a three-pointer from Amanda Ritzler (Tiffin, OH) to give the Panthers the lead with 12:43 to play before the break. ODU never looked back as they went on a 28-9 run to end the first half of action.   more

The Highlanders looked to rebound in the second half, but ODU refused to let up. The Panthers continued their dominating performance as they took advantage of poor shooting from the Highlanders. ODU extended their lead to 22, their largest of the game, with 5:25 left in the game.

The Ohio Dominican offense had four players score in double-figures led by freshman guard Jordan Smithberger (Pickerington, OH; pictured), who finished the day with 14 points. Kirsten Ruen (Columbus Grove, OH) chipped in with 13 points, senior guard Amanda Ritzler added 11, and senior forward Chelsea Rogers (Botkins, OH) scored 10 to give the Panthers the victory.

Houghton was led by Leah French who scored a game high 17 points, and Shannon Daugherty added 15 points of her own in the loss. The win evens the Panthers record to 7-7 on the year, and 1-0 in AMC action.  

ODU will return to action on Tuesday, January 6^th, as they travel to Cedarville , Ohio to take on Cedarville University . Game time is set for 5:30 p.m. and can be heard on WVKO 1580 AM or by logging on to RadiODU or pressboxproductions.net.