Third-quarter rally comes up short as Women's Basketball falls 63-56 to Capital
By Scott Beaton
ADA — A third-quarter rally was not enough to push the Ohio Northern women's basketball program past Capital Saturday afternoon as the Polar Bears fell 63-56 to the Crusaders inside the ONU Sports Center.
With the defeat, ONU drops to 6-2 on the season and 1-2 in OAC play while CU advances to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the conference.
Junior Abby Weeks (West Chester/Mount Notre Dame) and senior Jenna Dirksen (Beavercreek/Carroll) both scored 14 points to lead the Ohio Northern offense.
Capital's Erin Risner and Regan Stonerock each had 18 points and double-digit rebound efforts to pace the Crusaders.
Weeks drilled a three-pointer off an assist from junior Emily Mescher (Maria Stein/Marion Local) to provide the Polar Bears with an early 7-2 advantage. Capital then reeled off 10 straight points, giving CU a 12-7 lead with 4:34 remaining in the first quarter.
The Crusaders led 22-17 after the first 10 minutes and recorded its largest advantage in the contest at 38-24 at the 1:50 mark of the second quarter. A pair of free throws from sophomore Emily Brock (Akron/Revere) cut the deficit to 38-26 heading into the locker rooms.
The Polar Bears used a 10-0 run, capped by two free throws from sophomore Sydney Ward (Columbus/Upper Arlington), to come within two points of the Crusaders. The hot streak resulted in a 43-41 scoreline with 4:25 to go in the third quarter.
Capital led 47-43 after 30 minutes and proceeded to stretch its lead to 55-45 at the 5:48 mark. ONU came within four points on four different occassions throughout the final 4:19 of the game, but were unable to close the gap before the final buzzer sounded.
Ohio Northern converted 20-of-56 (35.7%) shot attempts and went 7-for-20 (35.0%) from three-point range in Saturday's affair. Meanwhile, the Crusaders made 26-of-50 (52.0%) shots from the floor and 4-for-14 (28.6%) from three-point territory.
The Polar Bears will return to action when they travel to University Heights for a 3 p.m. game against John Carroll next Saturday, December 15.
