By Caleb Scott
ADA — The No. 7-ranked Ohio Northern women's basketball team needed a late run to keep their perfect season alive as they downed Capital 64-49 Saturday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears move to 19-0 overall and 12-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Crusaders fall to 9-10, 5-7.
Senior Britt Lauck (Lima/Shawnee) scored a game-high 15 points, while sophmore Jenna Dirksen (Beavercreek/Carroll) tallied 11 points and junior Amy Bullimore (Morrow/Little Miami) added nine points.
Sophomore Tori Wyss (Ada) came off the bench and grabbed a game-high and career-best eight rebounds to lead Northern defensively.
Northern could not seem to pull away from CU in the first half as ONU took a 25-21 lead into the half.
Dirksen got Northern on the board quick in the second half as she drilled a 3-pointer less than twenty seconds into the third period.
The Crusaders would get as close as two points in the contest as a CU jumper closed the gap to 41-39 heading into the final quarter of play.
After a Capital jumper closed the Polar Bear lead to 50-47 with 5:39 remaining in the final quarter, Northern used a 14-2 run to close out the contest and seal the 64-49 victory.
Northern shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line down the stretch as senior Britt Lauck, and juniors Courtney Cramer (Arcadia) and Lindsey Black (Urbana/Graham) each hit a pair of free throws to ice the game.
The Polar Bears shot 22-of-52 (42.3 percent) from the field, including 4-of-14 (28.6 percent) from the 3-point line.
Northern won the battle on the glass by a 41-29 margin, including 13 offensive rebounds.
The Polar Bears return to the court Wednesday evening as they welcome OAC-foe Baldwin Wallace to the ONU Sports Center for a 7:30 pm tipoff.
