BOXSCORE

TIFFIN, OHIO - The Lake Erie College women's basketball team rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit but Mandy Jaeb scored nine of her game-high 29 points over the final three minutes to lead Tiffin University to an 87-82 win at Gillmor Center on Monday night.

Junior forward Alyssa Wagers (Stow, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls), who recorded her seventh double-double of the year, hit a pair of free throws to make it a 74-72 Tiffin lead with 3:54 left. Two possessions later, Jaeb hit a three-pointer to put the Dragons (4-5) up five. Later, she hit a pair of free throws with 40 seconds left that pushed the margin to eight points.

A three-pointer by senior guard Renese Ames (Bedford, Ohio/Bedford) made the score 85-82 with 16 seconds to go, but Jennifer Johnston connected on two free throws for the final points to send the Storm (8-8) to its second straight defeat.

Wagers finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead five Lake Erie players in double figures. Ames finished with 12 points against a future Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe.

Tiffin scored the game's first eight points and led by as many as 11 points in the opening minutes. A 15-6 run by the Storm knotted the game at 25-25. Lake Erie eventually took a three-point lead at 39-36, but Jessica Harris and Jaeb each hit two free throws to give the Dragons a 40-39 lead at halftime.

The second half started just like the first, with the Dragons rattling off eight straight points to open the frame. The lead grew to 13 at 59-46 before Lake Erie began to chip away. A 13-0 run over a four-minute span again tied the game, this time at 61-all. 

Later, after a three-pointer by Ames put LEC up 68-65 with 7:30 to go, Jaeb responded with a three of her own. Wagers hit two foul shots for Lake Erie, but Jessica Harris responded with a basket to tie the game again.

The Storm would never get the lead again.

Jaeb's free throws and another jumper by Harris gave the Dragons a four-point cushion. After Wagers cut that in half, Jaeb came up with the aforementioned three that started Tiffin's final push.  

The Dragons went 23-of-26 from the foul line and shot 46 percent (27-of-59) from the field, compared to 43% (30-of-70) by the Storm. Lake Erie was 14-of-20 on free throws.

Sophomore guard Jen Caiola (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Chagrin Falls) scored 13 points for the Storm, sophomore post Stephanie Rogers (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor) had 12 and junior guard Brittany Zele (Geneva, Ohio/Geneva) chipped in with 11 points and a career-high five steals.

In addition to Jaeb, who hit five three's and all eight of her free throw attempts, Karli Mast scored 21 points for Tiffin. Harris finished with 15 points and 17 rebounds while Johnston rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points.

Lake Erie will look to snap its two-game losing streak on Wednesday afternoon when it hosts another future GLIAC foe, Grand Valley State University. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. with the pregame show on ESPN 970 beginning at 12:45 p.m.