They say defense wins championships.

Tiffin University's women's basketball team must believe that axiom, as the Dragons exhibited a top notch defensive effort in blasting past Ferris State 78-49 in their GLIAC opener. The Dragons improve to 4-0, 1-0 in the conference while Ferris falls to 2-2, 0-1.


Tiffin wasted little time establishing the tone of the game, jumping out to a 18-5 lead in the first 7:00 while holding the Bulldogs to 11 percent shooting over the same span. TU, meanwhile, was red hot from the perimeter, shooting 70 percent from the floor in the early going including 85 percent from three point land.

An 11-7 run by the Bulldogs cut the lead to 9 points, but TU collected itself and responded with a 13-5 run to push the lead back to 17 points. At the half, TU held a 40-28 edge.

The strong defensive effort intensified after the intermission, as TU held the Bulldogs to just 30 percent shooting in the second half. Overall FSU shot just 34 percent in the game.

Tiffin forced 24 FSU turnovers while committing only 8, while also posting 13 steals on defense and blocking 3 shots. They also were more aggressive, drawing 11 more fouls and holding a 21-8 edge in free throw scoring.

Four Dragons players finished in double figures, with Jennifer Johnston leading the way with 15 points and 3 three pointers. Mandy Jaeb went 8 of 9 from the line to finish with 12 points while Karli Mast also had 12 points, 9 in the first half. Stephanie Kelly also had 10 points off the bench.

The Dragons drained 9 treys overall, while Jaeb also led the Dragons with 5 assists. Amanda Baute had 8 points and 5 rebounds, while Jessica Harris was the top rebounder for the Dragons with 7 rebounds.

TU now hosts Grand Valley State at 1 pm on Dec. 3.