ONU will play for the OAC crown against No. 3-seeded Wilmington at home in Ada at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA III tourney.
The No. 5-ranked Ohio Northern women's basketball team used a defensive effort to defeat Marietta 61-60 in Thursday evening's Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament semifinal round to advance to the OAC Tournament championship on Saturday afternoon.
The Polar Bears move to 26-0 overall with the victory.
With Northern up by one point and Marietta in possession of the final shot, junior Amy Bullimore (Morrow/Little Miami) recorded back-to-back blocks to seal the Polar Bear victory.
Bullimore posted a team-high 14 points and added game-highs in rebounds (9) and blocks (5).
Senior Britt Lauck (Lima/Shawnee) added 12 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Polar Bears.
Senior Amauria Campbell (Cincinnati/Summit Country Day) grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while Courtney Cramer (Arcadia) pulled down eights rebounds including five offensive boards.
Much like the regular season finale, the two teams played a competitive first quarter that saw Ohio Northern lead by as many as five points and take a 19-17 lead into the second quarter.
Marietta would grab its first lead of the evening at the 7:16 mark of the second quarter before Lauck found Cramer, who drilled a 3-pointer to give Northern a 24-22 lead with 6:59 remaining in the first half.
Junior Lindsey Black (Urbana/Graham) would hit a jumper with nine seconds left in the half to push the Polar Bear lead to 34-30 at the intermission.
Bullimore opened the second half on a personal 6-0 run to extend the Northern lead to 40-30 with 7:29 left in the third quarter.
Northern would see its lead grow to as many as 13 after Bullimore found Lauck on a fast break and gave ONU a 47-34 lead with 5:31 remaining in the quarter.
After a layup from Cramer pushed the lead to 57-45 with 8:34 remaining in the contest, the Pioneers used an 11-0 run to climb within 57-56 with 3:42 remaining.
The two teams would exchange baskets down the stretch before Bullimore hit a jumper for what would prove to be the game-winner.
