LIMA, Ohio – The University of Michigan-Dearborn women's basketball team made history in a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference matchup against the University of Northwestern Ohio Wednesday in Lima, Ohio.
The No. 20 Wolverines rallied from an early-fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Racers 80-72. The win is the 17th of the season for UM-Dearborn, the highest single-season total in the more than 40-year history of the program, snapping a tie with the 1978-79 and 2008-09 teams.
The Wolverines are 17-4 overall and 9-3 in the WHAC with nine games remaining in the regular season. UM-Dearborn is in a three-way tie with Siena Heights University and Aquinas College for second place in the WHAC standings, with the Wolverines holding road wins over both teams earlier this season.
The Racers took control of the game with a 7-0 rally to close the third quarter and built a 55-50 lead early in the fourth. From there, the UM-Dearborn offense established itself, scoring 32 points on 62.5 percent shooting in the final 10 minutes, including nine from junior Laekyn Jaciuk and eight from sophomore Ro'Zhane Wells.
Wells finished with 16 points on 7-of-13 shooting while adding six rebounds and six steals. Junior Sade Lemons also scored 16 and added six steals. Jaciuk scored her 14 points off the bench and sophomore Lauryn Carroll finished with 14 points and three steals.
UM-Dearborn shot 31-of-66 from the field, 3-of-21 from deep and 15-of-19 from the line.
The Racers were led by Emily Patton with 19 points on 6-of-12 from the field.
The Wolverines travel to Concordia University for a WHAC contest at 1 pm Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich.
