Hanover Rallies Past UW-Eau Claire To Win Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — For a second straight day, the Hanover Panthers rallied from a first-half deficit to claim a victory. This time, the Panthers were forced to come from 14 points behind midway through the second half to claim a thrilling 71-70 victory and the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic title over Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

The Panthers, who trailed by 12 points late in the first half before rallying to beat host Wittenberg, 64-60, on Day 1 of the competition, extended their perfect record to 10-0 on the season. Wisconsin-Eau Claire, which easily defeated Mount St. Joseph, 79-38, on Day 1, dropped to 7-5.

A 17-5 UW-Eau Claire run late in the first half broke a 21-21 tie and helped the BluGolds take an eight-point lead into the locker room at halftime. The lead stretched to as many as 15 points, and the BluGolds appeared to be in total command after a Hannah Mesick lay-up at the 15:44 mark staked UW-Eau Claire to a 51-37 advantage. Hanover scored the next seven points, however, and a Kendall Withered three-pointer at the 8:03 mark tied the game at 58.

From that point, the two teams battled back and forth through the closing seconds. A lay-up by UW-Eau Claire's Nicole Christianson with 59 seconds left gave the BluGolds a 70-69 lead, but Christianson fouled Hanover's Torin Franz on a three-point attempt with 30 seconds left. Franz made two of her three attempts. After a UW-Eau Claire timeout, Christianson had an open look at a three-pointer at the buzzer, but her shot caromed off the rim.

Hanover shot just 29 percent from the field in the first half but bounced back to hit 54 percent of its shots over the final 20 minutes. The Panthers hit 10-of-20 from three-point range as eight different players made at least one trey. The leader was Withered, who knocked down 3-of-4 from long distance to finish with 11 points in 14 minutes off the bench.

Molly Martin scored 15 points and added seven rebounds and three blocked shots to lead the Panthers, who were outrebounded 38-35 by forced six more BluGold turnovers. Franz added 13 points and seven rebounds.

Hannah Mesick led UW-Eau Claire with 22 points, although she was pressured into eight turnovers. Christianson added 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals in a fine all-around performance.