ONU women roll over ‘Berg 70-42

The Ohio Northern women's basketball team enjoyed a balanced scoring effort and assist-filled night Wednesday inside the ONU Sports Center. A dozen Polar Bears tallied a point and, as a team, they dished out 19 assists en route to a 70-42 win over Heidelberg. 

The victory improved Northern to 10-2 on the season and 4-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference play and stretched its win streak to four games. The loss dropped Heidelberg to 5-7 overall and 1-4 in conference action.

Junior Sydney Ward (Columbus/Upper Arlington) paced the Polar Bears with 12 points. She was a perfect 6-for-6 from the floor and also chipped in five rebounds and two assists. 

Sophomore Lexi Jacobs (Wapakoneta) added 11 points, a team-high five assists and four boards. Sophomore Kate Iliff (Lorain/Amherst Steele) netted a career-high nine points, while senior Abby Weeks (West Chester/Mount Notre Dame) chipped in eight points. 

Northern shot 48.3 percent (29 of 60) from the floor and 25.9 percent (7 of 27) from 3-point land. The Student Princes connected on 32 percent (16 of 50) of their field-goal attempts and 35.3 percent (6 of 17) of their shots from 3-point land.

Northern won the rebounding battle 35-31. The Polar Bears also poured in 25 points off 23 Heidelberg turnovers. 

ONU held a slight 13-12 edge at the end of the first quarter after Ward hit a bucket just before the buzzer. The Polar Bears closed the second period on an 11-4 run to take a 32-22 lead into the halftime break. Northern expanded its cushion to 50-34 before ballooning its lead to 28 points, its largest margin of victory of the season. 

The Polar Bears travel to Muskingum Saturday for a 3 p.m. tip.