No. 7 Women's Basketball tops Ohio Wesleyan 54-36 for third straight victory

By Caleb Scott

DELAWARE — The No. 7-ranked Ohio Northern women's basketball team topped Ohio Wesleyan 54-36 on Saturday afternoon to claim its third consecutive victory as it defeated OWU at the Branch Rickey Arena.

The Polar Bears improve to 3-1 overall, while the Battling Bishops drop to 0-4 on the season.

Senior center Amy Bullimore (Morrow/Little Miami) had a big day for ONU as she recorded her second consecutive and 23rd career double-double to lead Northern.

The senior tallied a game-high 22 points and added 11 rebounds for ONU.

Senior Alexis Kirkbride (Zanesville/Bishop Rosecrans), and juniors Tori Wyss (Ada) and Jenna Dirksen (Beavercreek/Carroll) added five points each for ONU, while Wyss added seven rebounds.

Northern jumped out to a commanding 15-2 lead in the first quarter as Bullimore scored six points and Wyss added five more to fuel the ONU run.

After a free throw from OWU, a layup on the other end from sophomore Abby Weeks (West Chester/Mount Notre Dame) pushed the lead to as much as 17-3 in the first quarter.

ONU would open a 25-8 lead in the second quarter before the Bishops were able to chip away at the lead and cut the gap to 29-21 at halftime.

OWU was able to climb within 35-32 in the third quarter before a jumper from senior Cheyenne Raker (Columbus/Westerville South) stopped the Bishop run and sparked an 8-3 run that would give Northern a 43-35 lead heading into the final period of play.

Ohio Northern wasted no time regaining a commanding lead in the fourth quarter, using an 8-0 run capped off by a 3-pointer from Kirkbride to push the lead to 51-35.

The Bishops couldn't get any closer than 15 points as Northern went on the win the contest.

The Polar Bears shot 23-of-54 (42.6 percent) from the field and 4-of-9 (44.4 percent) from the 3-point line, while Ohio Wesleyan was 13-of-64 (20.3 percent) from the field, including 7-of-33 (21.2 percent) from 3-point range.

OWU out-rebounded Northern by a 44-42 margin.

Ohio Northern returns to the court on Wednesday evening as it opens the home portion of its schedule and welcomes Case Western Reserve to the ONU Sports Center at 5:30 pm.