Women's Basketball advances to OAC Tournament semifinals after 75-68 win over Muskingum

ADA — The Ohio Northern women's basketball team advanced to the OAC Tournament semifinal round after a 75-68 win over No. 6 seeded Muskingum in the opening round Tuesday night in the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears (17-9) are seeded No. 3 in the tournament and will host No. 7 John Carroll, Thursday Feb. 24.

"It was a very close game and Muskingum showed that they came to win," head coach Michele Durand said. "I was pleased with how our team played in the second half. It was overall a great team effort."

Sophomore Morgan Dumbaugh led ONU with 19 points, 15 of which were in the second half, while senior Jeanne Bockey chipped in 15.  Freshman Cenzie Yoder put in 10 points, as well as pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

Both teams brought their A-game as the first half was tied five times and the lead exchanged hands six.

Northern jumped out to its largest lead of the first half at 12-6 on a three-point play by Brittany Bogart. The Muskies closed that gap and took the lead with a trey by Suzanne Nichols at the 11:58 mark.

Down the stretch, sophomore Katie Mengos completed a four-point play on a made 3-pointer and foul shot to push the score to 31-26 with 1:58 left in the half.  But Muskingum's Yasmyn Inskeep and Carissa Bosch knocked down two 3-pointers to ONU's one jumper to take the 34-33 lead at the half.

The Polar Bears came out of the break on a tear, putting together a 12-2 run capped off by a Dumbaugh 3-pointer (45-36) at the 15:35 mark.

Later another 3-point shot, this time by junior Megan Porter, gave ONU the 50-39 lead with a little over 14 minutes left in the contest.

The Muskies fought back and closed ONU's lead to just one point with a Bosch 3-pointer midway through the half.

The Polar Bears would quickly respond with a layup and 3-pointer by Bockey to take the score to 61-55. ONU would hold the lead through the rest of the half for the seven-point victory.

Muskingum's Nichols had a game-high 24 points, followed by Amanda Dobbins' 20 points and Bosch's 11. Dobbins also tied the game high in rebounds with eight.

The Muskies finish their season 12-14 overall.

The Polar Bear bench came to play, contributing 34 points. ONU also capitalized on second chances, putting in 12 points after initial shots.

Against the Blue Streaks, ONU earned two wins during the regular season. The first 69-44 in University Heights and the second 89-79 in Ada.