DETROIT, Mich. – The University of Michigan-Dearborn (5-13, 2-8) women's basketball team overcame a 17-point deficit early to upend the University of Northwestern Ohio Racers (8-7,4-5) on Saturday (Jan. 7) at the Matthaei Center.
UM-Dearborn Leaders
Siena Smith led the Maize & Blue with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the floor. Smith was a stellar 4-5 from behind the arc and ripped down nine rebounds. Lily Miller was the only other Wolverine in double figures, as she scored 11 points and hauled in nine rebounds. Jordan Banks was effective on the glass bringing down nine boards to go with her seven points. The Wolverines outrebounded UNOH 45-36 and 13-7 on the offensive glass. The difference in the contest came down to the Wolverines' strong afternoon at the free throw line. Dearborn shot 12-of-15 from the charity stripe compared to UNOH, shooting just 57.1% (4-7).
UNOH Leaders
Jada Haines led the way with a game-high 20 points on 9-of-20 shooting. Haines brought down six rebounds and had a trio of steals to round out her final line. Mar Marata Crespo had a game-high 11 rebounds for the Racers.
Inside the Game
The Racers started the game scorching hot and raced out to a 14-0 lead before Siena Smith could knock down a right-wing triple. The Wolverines would score just five points in the opening quarter and would find themselves down 22-5.
In what appeared to be an impossible task, the Wolverines did not quit and slowly chipped away at the Racer's lead. Briana Hurt would lead the charge in the second quarter with a dominant effort in the post and scoring six of the Wolverines' 11 second-quarter points. Despite outsourcing UNOH in the second quarter, Dearborn still found themselves down 31-16 heading into the half.
Dearborn utilized an early run coming out of the break to keep themselves in the contest as the Wolverines opened the third quarter on a 15-9 run in the first five minutes. After UNOH needed a timeout to try and stop the Wolverine run, Smith answered with back-to-back buckets to bring the Wolverines within seven with 1:33 left in the third. However, the Racers scored a bucket at the buzzer to get the lead back to within nine and make it a 46-37 ball game heading into the final quarter.
Dearborn would score the first five points of the fourth quarter on a Banks triple and Miller layup to keep UNOH on their heels and make it 46-42 with 8:20 to play. UNOH would score the game's next four points to retake an eight-point lead before Miller made another basket in the paint to make it 50-44. Dearborn would go on a 7-0 run capped off by a Lily Miller layup to force UNOH into calling a timeout with 2:56 to play. Abby Fullerton sealed the game with seven seconds remaining as she hit a pair of clutch free throws to make it 55-52.
Up Next
Dearborn welcomes Lourdes on Saturday (Jan.14) tip-off is set for 1pm at Madonna University.
