Yoder scores 22 as Women's Basketball holds off Marietta 83-73 to improve to 18-3 on season

MARIETTA — The Ohio Northern women's basketball team withstood a late game rally to defeat Marietta 83-73 in an Ohio Athletic Conference game at Ban Johnson Arena on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Polar Bears push their winning streak to seven games and improve their record to 18-3 overall and 12-2 in the OAC, while the Pioneers fall to 9-12 overall (4-10 OAC).

Sophomore Cenzie Yoder scored more than 20 points for the second straight game, totaling 22 points, five rebounds and four steals, while junior Joanna Snyder put in 19 points of her own in Northern's winning effort.

Senior Kara Dysert added 13 points, eight boards and three blocks, while junior Katie Mengos scored nine points and dished out six assists.

Both teams shot the ball well, as ONU went 32-for-64 (50.0 percent) from the field and 13-for-15 (86.7 percent) from the free throw line, compared to 28-for-52 (53.8 percent) from the field and 12-for-12 (100 percent) from the line for Marietta.

ONU dominated the turnover battle, forcing 18 Marietta turnovers while committing just nine.

With Marietta leading 18-16 halfway into the first half, ONU went on a 15-2 run over the next five minutes, capped off by a trey from junior Morgan Dumbaugh, to give the Polar Bears a 31-20 lead at the 5:14 mark.

The teams traded buckets the remainder of the half, until a Mengos jumper at the buzzer gave ONU a 40-29 halftime lead.

Dysert, Snyder and Yoder all scored during a 6-0 Polar Bear spurt in the opening minute and a half to push Northern's lead to 46-29.

After Tori Dixon hit a three for Marietta, Snyder answered with a three-pointer of her own and Yoder completed an old-fashioned three-point play to increase Northern's lead to 52-32 at the 17:13 mark.

While ONU was leading 60-40 with 12:52 to play, a quick 5-0 Marietta run cut the deficit to a more manageable 60-45 margin with 11:57 remaining.

Ohio Northern increased the lead back to 71-55, but a 10-2 Pioneer run cut ONU's lead into single digits for the first time in the second half, 73-65, with 3:31 left to play.

The Polar Bears went a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe in the closing minutes, not allowing Marietta to cut the lead to less than seven points as ONU closed out the 83-73 win.

ONU remains in second place in the OAC, one game behind #10-ranked Mount Union, who ONU will host on Saturday at 3 p.m.

First, though, the Polar Bears have another OAC showdown at Heidelberg on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ONU defeated Heidelberg at 75-53 at home earlier in the season.