Ryle remains unbeaten on home court

by Kevin Kelly, NKY Enquirer

A furious second half run and perfect shooting from the free throw line in overtime helped Ryle shake off a sluggish start against Notre Dame on Tuesday and remain unbeaten on its home court this season.

The Raiders outscored the Pandas 19-9 in overtime for a 63-53 victory. Junior guard Dawn Johnson scored all of her eight points in overtime while senior forward Jenna Crittendon contributed seven of her team-high 19.

Ryle, ranked No. 2 in the Enquirer Northern Kentucky Coaches’ poll, is now 12-0 at home and 23-5 overall this season.

“It felt great,” Crittendon said. “They’re a really tough team, knocked us out of in the regional last year. Notre Dame’s always tough. They don’t give up. They have a great coach. So it felt pretty good.
“And we haven’t lost on our home court yet, so that was a big win for us.”

Notre Dame junior forward Olivia Voskuhl led the Pandas with 19 points, including a 3-pointer to tie the game at 44 with 22.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

Ranked No. 3 in the Enquirer Northern Kentucky coaches’ poll, Notre Dame (21-5) led by two in overtime when Crittendon made a 3-pointer from the corner to put the Raiders ahead 49-48 for good with 2:03 to go.

“I’m proud of the girls for coming back in the overtime and doing all the little things,” Ryle head coach Patti Oliverio said. “We hit 10 free throws down the stretch. We were 10-for-10, so that was key.”

Four of those free throws came with 1:02 left in overtime.

With her team leading by three, Johnson was fouled and due two shots. Notre Dame coach Nicole Levandusky protested the call to the extent she was assessed a technical foul.

Johnson made her two free throws. Teammate Ashley Cheesman made the two shots for the technical, giving the Raiders a 57-50 lead.

“We had some letdowns defensively that they took advantage of and it was just too much of a hole to dig out of,” Levandusky said. “Obviously, my technical didn’t help anything.”

It was Cheesman who sparked a 21-2 second half run by the Raiders.  The senior guard cut into a 10-point Notre Dame lead by hitting Ryle’s first 3-pointer of the game with 16.7 seconds remaining in the third quarter. She made another one at the start of the fourth to pull the Raiders to within four points, 31-27.

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