Tiffin University's women's basketball team hasn't had much success playing the University of Findlay. They had only won six times in 42 tries entering Thursday night's game at Findlay.
Make it seven.
The Dragons, behind more stingy defense and a strong triple-double effort by Mandy Jaeb, posted only their third win in the last 10 years on the road at Findlay, posting a 74-65 win in a close affair that the Dragons never trailed in.
TU (6-2, 3-2 GLIAC) opened the game on a 13-2 run, establishing the tone early. But Findlay crept back into the game, a recurring theme throughout the night as TU would hold off run after run by the Oilers.
TU led just 32-28 at halftime and knew that no let downs could be allowed in the second half. TU had held Findlay to just 39 percent field goal shooting in the first half and wanted to duplicate that effort in the final 20 minutes.
They did better than that, improving on defense to hold Findlay to 35 percent shooting after halftime. Overall TU forced 25 Findlay turnovers and outshot the Oilers 44 to 38 percent from the floor.
Every time Findlay made a charge in the second half, the Dragons maintained their focus and responded with a small run to push the lead back up to a more comfortable margin. Over the final minute, TU hit on five of its six free throws to put the game away.
Mandy Jaeb was all over the floor, scoring 11 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and dishing out 11 assists. Karli Mast led all Dragons scorers with 17 points, while Amanda Baute and Jessica Harris each had 8 points in the paint. Melissa Gilliland added 7 points. Baute also had 6 rebounds.
TU now travels to Wayne State on Dec. 17 for a 1 pm GLIAC matchup.
