TIFFIN, Ohio—Sophomore guard Kathleen Phillips (Sandusky/St. Mary's) scored a game-high 21 points and senior guard Jazmine Shaw (Columbus/Hamilton Township) nearly recorded a double-double this afternoon, but Muskingum University outscored the Heidelberg University women's basketball team, 37-18, over the final 13 minutes to score a 68-64 victory in an Ohio Athletic Conference game at Seiberling Gymnasium in Tiffin, Ohio. All proceeds from the game will be donated to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization.

In addition to Phillips, who scored 15 of her 21 points in the second half, for Heidelberg (4-15, 1-11 OAC), junior guard Jordan Ickes (Wooster/Triway) scored 10 points and Shaw tallied eight points and a season-high 11 rebounds. Sophomore guard Megan Miller (Tiffin/Columbian) added eight markers and seven boards.

Muskingum (7-11, 2-9 OAC) was led by Hannah Nelson with 18 points on five-of-nine shooting and eight-of-10 from the free throw line. Carissa Bosch tallied 12 points and Gabbi Davis and Amanda Dobbins each chipped in eight points. Dobbins pulled down a game-high 16 boards.

Stingy defensive play on both sides of the ball limited the game to an 11-11 tie—the fourth of the first half—more than eight minutes into the game.

Muskingum gained a 13-11 lead following a jumper by Suzanne Nichols at the 10:19 mark, but the Berg countered four possessions later when sophomore guard Emily Giel (Burton/Burkshire) canned a three-pointer at 8:23 for a 14-13 edge.

The Tri-Color then went on a 9-3 run, taking a 23-16 lead at 4:47 when Miller made a lay-up and converted the three-point play following a foul by Tori Jarrett.

The Fighting Muskies would cut the lead to 23-20 at 3:14 after a pair of jumpers by Meghan Billick, but Heidelberg again went on a run, extending its lead to 28-20 when Giel sank another triple with just over a minute to play in the opening half.

Billick came back for Muskingum with a pair of free throws, but freshman guard Emily Hopton (Wickliffe/Athens) made a jumper and freshman guard Erika Jordan (Bellevue) sank one of two free throws to send the Berg into the break with a 31-22 lead, its largest of the half.

Muskingum struck first in the second half with a pair of free throws from Nichols, but Miller answered right back on the Berg's next possession with a three-pointer, giving the Tri-Color its first double-digit lead of the game at 34-24 with 18:45 on the clock.

Heidelberg then went on a 12-7 jaunt to take its largest lead of the game at 46-31, capped by a fast break lay-up by Ickes at the 12:54 mark.

The Tri-Color continued to maintain a double-digit lead as the game clock ticked to under eight minutes, but Muskingum outscored the Berg, 25-11, over a span of 7:36 to cut the deficit to just one point at 57-56 with 4:52 to play. Nelson scored nine points during the run, including four free throws down the stretch, and Gabbi Davis canned three-pointers on consecutive possessions to put the Muskies back in the game.

Heidelberg rebuilt its lead to four points on separate occasions, with the last coming at 64-60 when freshman guard Paige Ricketts (Mineral City/Tusky Valley) made a jumper the 3:12 mark.

Muskingum scored the next four points to tie the score for the fifth time at the 1:30 mark following a pair of free throws from both Bosch and Suzanna Nichols. A foul shot from Nelson gave the Muskies their first lead since 10:10 of the first half. A three-point play from Nelson with less than 30 seconds to play capped the comeback.

Despite the loss, the Berg shot 41.7 (25-of-60) percent from the field, but was just 58.8 (10-of-17) percent from the charity stripe.

The Fighting Muskies rebounded from a 25.0 (seven-of-28) shooting performance in the first half to shoot 31.1 (19-of-61) overall, including 83.3 (25-of-30) from beyond the arc. Muskingum also held a 43-40 advantage on the boards and committed just 14 turnovers.

Heidelberg returns to the hardwood Wednesday, Feb. 1 when it takes on John Carroll University in an OAC tilt at 7:30 p.m. The final home game of the season—Senior Night—will be on Wednesday, Feb. 8 when the Berg hosts Ohio Northern University.