TIFFIN -- The Heidelberg University women's basketball team got back on the winning track by grinding out a gritty 80-70 win over Muskingum University on Saturday. The victory halted a two-game losing streak and helped the Tricolor keep pace in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings.

The win pushed Heidelberg to 9-12, 7-7 in the conference. The loss snapped a three-game Muskingum winning streak and dropped the Muskies to 6-15, 4-10 in the OAC.

THREE STARS

Paige Ricketts filled out the stat sheet – 17 points, seven rebounds, seven steals, six assists and, despite only standing 5 feet 6 inches tall, two blocks. The senior's last eight points came at the foul line, hitting all of her chances with less than two minutes to play.

Marisa Liburdi tallied 12 points and seven rebounds in the victory. The junior transfer played lock-down defense against the Muskie post players, including three blocked shots.

Allie Hawkins set a career-high with 18 points, including 12 points from beyond the arc. Her previous best, 16 points, was last achieved in the mid-January win over Capital.

FIRST HALF

The visitors controlled the action in the first 20 minutes. Aside from two small Heidelberg leads midway through the period, Muskingum enjoyed a lead throughout. The Muskies hit seven 3-pointers, including three by Taylor Maurer – who finished with a game-high 23 points.

Two 3-pointers by MU's Alexandra Cason late in the half helped the guests build an eight-point lead with 3:14 remaining.

Heidelberg battled back and got to within three after a wild possession that started with a steal by Carli Patrick. On the offensive end, HU missed three shots, but secured the rebound. Eventually, Ricketts found Patrick who sank a layup and was fouled. Patrick sank the and-one free throw with 2:03 left.

The Muskies closed the half on a 5-2 run, including a put-back layup by Maurer off of her own missed 3-pointer with six seconds left. The basket gave MU a 39-33 advantage at the break.

SECOND HALF

Heidelberg ratcheted up the defensive pressure in the second half and took the lead with a 15-5 run, capped by a three-point play by Ricketts with 13:17 left.

Heidelberg would push the lead to five before Muskingum's Jasmine Goings got going. Five straight points for Goings on the block opened up room for Maurer to bury another triple, which put MU up 57-56.

On the ensuing HU possession, Shelby Dearth answered with a 3-pointer of her own, which put Heidelberg back up to stay with 8:18.

Muskingum would crawl to within two or three points several times in the final third of the period, but the Berg defense tightened up in crunch time.

Heidelberg iced the game in the final 2.5 minutes, shooting 12-of-12 from the line.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Hawkins, Ricketts and Liburdi were the only three Student Princes in double-figures – but nine different players found the scoring column.

Patrick had nine points and 10 rebounds, narrowly missing out on her 13th double-double of the season.

Heidelberg held an eight-point edge in points off of turnovers, 26-18.

WELCOME BACK

More than 20 former Student Princes returned to Seiberling Gymnasium for the annual Alumni Game festivities. The group included the four seniors from a season ago – Kyra Dorney, Megan Miller, Kathleen Phillips and Molly Schriber.

POSTSEASON PUSH

Heidelberg and Wilmington remain tied with each other for fifth place in the OAC. The women's basketball tournament bracket rewards the top two seeds a double-bye, with the next two seeds earning a single-bye. The Nos. 5 and 6 seeds host the Nos. 8 and 7 seeds, respectively, in the first round.

Baldwin Wallace and Ohio Northern are tied for first at 12-2, with John Carroll a game back at 11-3. Capital's 8-6 record puts the Crusaders one game in front of Heidelberg and the Quakers. Muskingum and Mount Union, each 4-10, are tied for seventh. With four games left to play, Marietta (3-11) and Otterbein (2-12) are on the outside looking in.

QUOTES

Head coach Morgan Shriver on her team's halftime adjustments: "Honesly, we didn't talk about offense at all ... we talked about focusing on our scouting report and not missing our defensive assignments."

Shriver on Liburdi's defensive effort: "Jasmine Goings is their go-to player inside, so we needed Marisa to step up ... we told her how she needed to guard Goings and she followed the plan ... at the end when we really needed to get stops, Marisa was able to cause havoc inside."

Shriver on Rickett's productive afternoon: "Paige never stops. Her energy is constant ... I'm sure she is a nightmare for opposing teams to match up against."

UP NEXT

A tough test awaits the Student Princes on Wednesday, as they visit front-running Ohio Northern. ONU upended Heidelberg 61-45 three weeks ago. The game in Ada is set for a 7:30 p.m. tip.