HUNTINGTON, Ind. – The Panthers began their play in the Crossroads League/WHAC Classic Friday night in a matchup with No. 17 Huntington University. DU was forced into overtime with the Foresters as they looked to bounce back from their opening loss. Huntington managed to pull away to a three point advantage and defended the final DU possession as they handed the Panthers a 67-64 loss and sent them to 0-2.

The Panthers found themselves in a defensive battle as the teams carried a 31-28 score to the break and DU held the advantage. Tiesha Stokes led the Panthers with nine points and three rebounds while Emily Severn added seven points for the half. The Panthers and Foresters were in a low-scoring battle, but DU shot 45% from the field for the half and held Huntington to 40% shooting from the field.

This back and forth game carried throughout the second half as the teams stared at a 58-58 tie with 26 seconds remaining and DU had the ball. The Panthers saw a drive to the basket result in a turnover with three seconds remaining. The Foresters used a timeout to advance the basketball past half court for their final possession. An overwhelming Panther defense led by Alex Law did not allow Huntington to get off a shot and the teams headed to overtime.

The overtime period saw the Panthers take the early lead as Law hit a step back three point shot to carry the 61-58 lead. Huntington then battled back to tie the score at 62-62, and followed that momentum with the next five points as they stretched their lead to 67-62. A crucial steal and layup in the backcourt from Stokes following a Forester rebound cut the deficit to 67-64 with 40 seconds remaining. The Panther defense held strong as they forced a missed three-pointer and Stokes grabbed the rebound to give the Panthers a final possession to tie the game. The Huntington defense held on as they did not allow DU to get a clean look from behind the arc and the game resulted in a 67-64 defeat for the Panthers. Stokes totaled 23 points and nine rebounds while Severn recorded seven points and three rebounds and Amanda Merz tallied nine points.