Gunning Leads Oilers to Win over Tritons
The University of Findlay women's basketball team improved to 5-3 on the season with a 72-66 win against the University of Missouri-St. Louis on Dec. 20 in Croy Gymnasium.
The Oilers made only four field goal attempts and shot a mere 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from the field in the opening half, but trailed the Tritons by only three points at 25-22 when the first half buzzer sounded. Findlay stayed in the game during the opening period by converting 13-of-16 (81.2%) shot attempts from the free throw line.
In the second half the Tritons got out to a 38-31 lead with just over 13 minutes to play before the Oilers went on a 14-2 run to take a 45-40 lead with 8:07 remaining. The run was fueled by senior guard Nikki Gunning, who scored 13 straight points for Findlay. The Oilers would then continue to knock down free throws for the remainder of the game to claim the victory.
The Oilers shot 38.9 percent (14-of-36) from the floor in the win and canned a season-high 39-of-47 (83%) shot attempts from the charity stripe. They also forced 21 turnovers and came away with ten steals in the game.
Gunning led the team with a career-high 19 points on 4-of-9 shooting. She also made all ten of her attempts from the free throw line to go along with one rebounds and one block in 18 minutes of action off the bench.
Senior forward Lacey Kessler also provided a spark off the pine with 13 points and five rebounds while senior guard Ciara Geiger produced 13 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Junior forward Margaret Wuebker and sophomore guard Karli Bonar also reached double figures in the victory with 11 and ten points, respectively.
The Tritons were led by Alexis Lawrence's game-high 20 points. Kelly McGovern also had a good day with ten points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Oilers will now prepare to face Ferris State University on Jan. 2. The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest is scheduled to tip at 5:30 p.m. in Croy Gymnasium.