BY CALEB SCOTT

ADA — The No. 15 ranked Ohio Northern women's basketball team used a strong second half to defeat Otterbein 78-61 Wednesday evening at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears remain perfect, improving to 12-0 overall and 5-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Cardinals fall to 5-7, 1-4.

Senior Britt Lauck (Lima/Shawnee) led Northern offensively with a game-high 17 points, while junior Amy Bullimore (Morrow/Little Miami) tallied her second double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Junior Courtney Cramer (Arcadia) and sophomore Jenna Dirksen (Beavercreek/Carroll) each added 12 points for the Polar Bears.

After Otterbein would keep it close in the first quarter as they tied the contest at 11-11 with 4:06 left before Northern closed the period on a 7-0 run capped off by a jumper from freshman Abby Weeks Cincinnati/Mount Notre Dame) to take an 18-11 lead into the second quarter.

The Cardinals would fight back and close the gap to 29-27 at the intermission.

OC would gain the lead with a 3-pointer to open the second half and take a 30-29 lead with 9:33 remaining in the quarter.

After the teams exchanged buckets, Northern would use a 15-0 run behind seven points from both Lauck and Dirksen to take a commanding 46-32 lead with 3:15 left in the quarter.

Northern would take a 54-40 advantage into the final period after Cramer drilled a deep 3-pointer at the buzzer to give ONU all the momentum heading into the final quarter.

The Cardinals would pull within 68-56 with 2:47 remaining in the contest, before the Polar Bears closed the game on a 10-5 run to seal the victory.

Northern shot 25-of-46 (54.3 percent) from the field, including 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) from the 3-point line.

The Polar Bears won the rebounding battle 31-21.

Northern returns to action Saturday, as they travel to OAC-foe Marietta to take on the Pioneers at 3 pm.