TIFFIN – Buoyed by a boisterous crowd, the No. 6 seeded Heidelberg University women's basketball team rallied from a 20-point first half deficit and defeated No. 7 seeded Mount Union. The Student Princes outscored the Purple Raiders by 16 in the second half en route to their 84-80 win in the opening round of the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament.

It was the program's first tournament win since February 23, 2004 – exactly 11 years ago.

Heidelberg (11-15, 8-10 OAC) advances to the second round of the tournament – at Baldwin Wallace on Tuesday. Mount Union's season ends at 10-16, 6-12 in the conference.

THREE STARS

• Off the bench, sophomore Theresa Jackson scored 20 of her game-high 29 points in the second half. Down the stretch, she was downright lethal – scoring 16 points in the final 8:13. She added four steals and three assists.

• Allie Hawkins hit three 3-pointers and all six of her free throws to finish with 17 points. As the Berg's primary ball-handler, Hawkins committed just two second half turnovers.

• The Seiberling Psychos – a nickname bestowed upon the raucous Heidelberg fans by psychology professor Dr. Traci Stark – showed up en masse on Monday. Despite Mt. Union's large first half lead, the students kept up their energy. All of Heidelberg's six second half 3-pointers elicited a roar from the crowd, each louder than the next.

THE PIVOTAL MOMENTS:  Mount Union was virtually unstoppable in the first half, hitting their high-water mark – a 20-point lead -- with 2:34 left. Katie Reed's 3-pointer gave the Purple Raiders a commanding 44-24 lead. Heidelberg closed the half on an 11-3 run, which included a three-point play from Jackson.

In the second half, a three-point play by Marisa Liburdi ignited a 12-0 run for the Student Princes. After Liburdi's and-one, Jackie Abrecht hit a 3-pointer from the right wing, which prompted MTU head coach Suzy Venet to call timeout. Out of the break, Hawkins hit a 3 in transition. Kate Brickner followed with a 3-pointer of her own. In the span of 1:38 of game time, the Purple Raider lead shrunk from 56-42 to 56-52.

Later in the half, Brickner buried another triple to knot the game for the first time since the opening tip. Her 3-pointer from the top of the key capped a 7-0 run, tying the game at 63.

With 8:13 left, Jackson sank a pair of free throws – the second of which gave Heidelberg its first lead of the evening. They were the start of Jackson's stretch of dominance where she scored 16 of the Tricolor's final 19 points.

Jackson broke a 76-76 tie with a 3-pointer from out top – reminiscent of her key trey in Heidelberg's upset of #19 John Carroll in the regular season.

With less than 30 seconds left and leading by one, Jackson drove down the right side of the paint, cut to her left and banked home a bucket. Down 83-80 without a timeout, the visitors rambled up the court. A disjointed MTU possession ended when Jackson stepped in front of a pass. After the interception and subsequent Mount foul, Jackson tumbled to the hardwood – only to be jubilantly picked up by her teammates.

Jackson hit one of two from the line, which gave Heidelberg a four-point lead with 19.4 on the clock. Mount's Annie Bova missed a layup with less than 10 seconds left. Just before time expired, Bova launched an errant 3-pointer. The buzzer sounded and the newly-christened Seiberling Psychos stormed the court.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:  Three Student Princes finished in double-figures, as Brickner's 12-point evening put her in company with Jackson and Hawkins.

Freshman Isabella Pecchia led the way for Mount Union. Pecchia had 23 points in the losing effort. Chandler Moore had 13 points and 9 rebounds in her final collegiate game.

Boosted by Jackson and Brickner, the Heidelberg bench outscored Mount's bench 50-15.

Mount Union shot 64.0% from the floor in the first half.

QUOTES:  Head coach Morgan Shriver on what she told her message at halftime: "I just told them that they need to make a decision, if they wanted their season to end, they can continue to play the way were -- or they can make a decision and step up defensively and that will create your offense."

Shriver on Jackson's memorable night: "We've said it all season, TJ is a go to player for us. She went through about a six-game slump and we broke down a lot of film on what she did at the beginning of the year that she's not doing now. I sat down with her and we talked about what was working and what wasn't ... Against Otterbein she scored 12 and tonight she hit her first shot and just went from there."

Senior Paige Ricketts -- who fouled out with no points and three rebounds -- on the win: "Somebody texted me and asked how many I was going to have tonight and I responded saying it doesn't really matter -- Everything that mattered was the team. Clearly, I got in foul trouble tonight and barely played, and my team stepped up huge and said 'Hey, this isn't your last game, we have your back."

Junior Allie Hawkins on the Heidelberg fans: "Our crowd was a big part of why we won this game. They picked us up and built up our confidence. Once we got going it was awesome."

Sophomore Theresa Jackson on emerging from her slump: "I was in a slump for a really long time, I was getting frustrated, and then my old high school coach called me Saturday morning before our game and told me to remember why I play the game and why I started playing it, and I think Saturday was the first stepping stone to getting back on track and leading up to today. The team always has confidence in me and I know the coaches have it...It's so good to be back."

UP NEXT:  The Heidelberg women will have no time off, as they travel to Berea for a contest with the No. 3 seed, Baldwin Wallace, tomorrow at 6 p.m. The Yellow Jackets swept the two regular season games, but in the matchup at BW, it was a close one, as a desperation 3-point attempt rimmed out as Heidelberg fell just short, losing 57-55.