Women's Basketball falls in closing seconds of OAC Semifinal game to John Carroll, 71-70

ADA — Third-seeded Ohio Northern women's basketball team dropped a 71-70 contest to seventh-seeded John Carroll on a pair of free throws in the final minute in the semifinal round of the OAC Tournament at the ONU Sports Center, Thursday evening.

The Polar Bears close out their season with a 17-10 overall record, while the Blue Streaks improve to 16-11 and advance to the OAC Tournament Finals against Mount Union.

JCU's Lee Jennings hit a pair of free throws with 21 seconds remaining to give John Carroll its first lead of the second half and eventually the game.

ONU was led by senior Jeanne Bockey with 13 points, while junior Megan Porter and sophomore Morgan Dumbaugh each had 11 points.

Junior Kara Dysert and freshman Cenzie Yoder were each close to double-doubles, as Dysert totaled eight points and 13 boards, while Yoder notched nine points and 10 rebounds.

Jennings led John Carroll with 28 points on 11-of-22 shooting.

An early 9-0 John Carroll run gave the Blue Streaks an 18-12 lead with 7:53 remaining in the first half.

The Polar Bears answered back in the closing minutes of the first half, scoring 23 points to the Blue Streak's 10. That scoring run included a pair of three-pointers each by Dumbaugh and Porter to give ONU a 35-28 lead into the break.

ONU continued to add to its lead to start the second half, with a Katie Mengos three-pointer and layup by junior Steph Hicks pushing the score to 47-33 with 14:31 on the clock.

John Carroll responded with six straight points to cut the deficit to 47-39 at the 12:40 mark.

The teams traded baskets four times up and down the court before an ONU timeout, making it a 56-48 game with 8:24 to play.

John Carroll took a 13-2 run, highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers by Allison Lustig and Ritchie, to tie the game at 63-63 with 3:58 remaining in the game.

A 5-1 ONU run toward the end of the game included a trey from sophomore Joanna Snyder and Yoder layup made it a 68-64 game with 2:25 to go.

But Ritchie hit a layup and a free throw for John Carroll to cut ONU's lead to 68-67 at the 1:34 mark.

Porter then sank a pair of free throws, which was answered by a Jennings layup to make the score 70-69 ONU with 1:06 left in the game. Jennings then sank both foul shots to seal the win.

Ohio Northern dominated the boards all game, out-rebounding JCU, 51-22.

John Carroll won the turnover battle, though, forcing 25 turnovers and only turning it over ten times.

The Blue Streaks advance to the OAC Tournament Championship where they will take on top-seeded and nationally-ranked Mount Union, which defeated Capital 79-55 on Thursday.