By Jared Brown

The No. 4 Ohio Northern women's basketball team celebrated Senior Day with a 77-42 victory over Capital on Saturday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears have now won a school record 23 games in a row and stand at 24-1 on the season and 18-0 in the OAC. The Crusaders fall to 14-11, 9-9.

ONU becomes the first team to finish the OAC regular season undefeated since the 1999-00 season.

The 24 victories this season also sets a new school record.

"Our goal at the beginning of the season was to win the league," said head coach Michele Durand. "This is a very tough conference to play in and going 18-0 in it is a outstanding accomplishment."

Senior Joanna Snyder and junior Cenzie Yoder each led Northern with 15 points and five rebounds apiece.

Senior Katie Mengos added 11 on 4-of-7 shooting. She also pulled down five rebounds.

Kristen Thompson led Capital with 13 points and six rebounds.

ONU jumped out to an early 7-2 lead and then used a 10-2 run to open up a 22-12 advantage with just under six minutes left in the first half.

Northern would expand the lead and take a 34-20 advantage into the break.

The Polar Bears would blow the game open with a 12-0 midway through the second half to open up a 55-30 lead.

ONU would not let the Crusaders get closer than 22 points the rest of the game.

"Today was a great team effort," Durand added. "They (Capital) came out on a zone which caught us off guard. But I thought we responded nicely and handled it."

ONU shot 29-of-56 (51.8 percent) from the field, while Capital was 15-of-59 (25.4 percent).

The Polar Bears out rebounded the Crusaders 43 to 33.

Northern also held a 34-16 advantage in points in the paint.

The Polar Bears will be the top seed and receive a double bye in the OAC Tournament which tips off on Monday.

Ohio Northern will be in action on Thursday, when they host either Muskingum, Capital or Wilmington at 7:30 p.m.