Pertuset, Lady Trailblazers Grab Revenge In High Scoring Win Over Red Storm

RIO GRANDE, OH – Battling for playoff positioning as the regular season draws to a close, the Lady Trailblazers faced the Red Storm of Rio Grande on Saturday for the second time this season. After dropping a game at home against the Red Storm, Ohio Christian took their revenge by putting up 114 points in a five point win.

In a high scoring affair where neither team struggled putting up points, the Lady Trailblazer rallied around their scoring leader Staci Pertuset (SR/West Union, OH), who scored 40 points on 14-26 shooting. Pertuset also finished 10-11 from the line, grabbed eight rebounds, and finished with five steals.

After taking an early six point lead after 10 minutes, the Lady Trailblazer saw the Red Storm put up consecutive 27 point quarters to enter the fourth with a two point lead. Despite Rio's offense putting up 34 in the final 10 minutes, Pertuset helped her squad rally, scoring 15 of the team's 41 points including late free throws to seal the win.

In total, six players finished in double figures for Ohio Christian, including an 18 point, nine assist performance from Carolane Cox (SR/Chillicothe, OH). Logan Stidham (FR/Marysville, OH) came in off the bench to contribute 10 points while Makayla DeArmond (SO/Springfield, OH) finished perfect from the field with 10 points.

"I am extremely proud of the overall effort that we displayed today," said Head Coach Brenda Baker. "We played a tough and gritty Rio team. Everyone stepped up when they needed to. This was a great win for us, now we have to lock in and finish the season strong."

With the win, the Lady Trailblazers move to 7-6 in RSC play, placing them in third in the East division. Ohio Christian currently sits one game behind the Red Storm and one game ahead of Point Park with three games to play. The top four teams from each division will qualify for the conference tournament, with the top two seeds receiving home court advantage in the opening round.

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