Ohio Northern used another outstanding defensive effort and scored the first 12 points of the fourth quarter to pull away for a 61-44 victory at Otterbein in the quarterfinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Tuesday night at the Rike Center.

The seventh-seeded Polar Bears improve to 7-7 on the season and advance to the semifinals on Thursday night at top-seeded and No. 12-ranked John Carroll (11-2).

The second-seeded Cardinals end their season at 8-5.

ONU led 42-36 after three periods and used the 12-0 run to take a commanding 54-36 advantage with 5:35 left in the game.

Junior Kate Iliff (Lorain/Steele) and freshman Kasey Knippen (Ottoville) had 12 points each and junior Annie Weckesser (Dayton/Chaminade-Julienne) had 10 points

Ohio Northern used a 12-3 run to take a 29-19 lead with 1:34 left in the second quarter.

Otterbein got within 29-24 at halftime and scored the final four points of the third quarter to trail 42-36 entering the fourth period before ONU's late spurt put the game away.

ONU made 19-of-49 field goals for 38.8 percent and was 6-of-17 from 3-point range for 35.3 percent, while OU made 17-of-61 field goals for 27.9 percent and made 4-of-24 from beyond the arc for 16.7 percent.

This marks the third consecutive game that ONU held its opponents under 30 percent hooting from the floor and less than 20 percent from 3-point range.

The Polar Bears outrebounded the Cardinals 49-30 behind 10 boards from senior Sydney Ward(Columbus/Upper Arlington).