Nov. 28, 2007

By Zach Stipe

ADA — The Ohio Northern women’s basketball team got off to a hot start and never trailed en route to defeating Adrian (Mich.) 63-56 on Wednesday at the ONU Sports Center.

Four Polar Bears scored in double figures led by senior Erin Brand’s 14 points. Senior Jenny Markle added 13 points and was a perfect 3-of-3 from behind the 3-point arc. Junior Alisha Rinehart had 12 points off the bench, while senior Megan Cevasco scored 11 points, all on free throws.

Cevasco had a team-high eight rebounds and tied with senior Leah Zimmerman for the team-high in assists with three.

Ashley McClarren led Adrian (1-3) with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Ohio Northern (3-1) jumped out to a 9-1 lead to begin the game.

Markle drilled a jumper a step inside the 3-point line on the game’s first possession to give the Polar Bears a 2-0 lead. Just over five minutes into the game, Markle nailed a 3-pointer to cap the 9-1 run.

The Bulldogs fought right back and closed ONU’s lead to 12-9 when Jennifer Perrin finished a fast break layup at the 11:40 mark.

Northern countered with an 8-2 run in which Markle hit another 3-pointer to give ONU a 20-11 lead with 7:30 remaining in the half.

Markle drilled her third three of the game with 15:30 left in the game to cap the Polar Bears’ 12-4 run to begin the second half.

Five minutes later, Rinehart drove the lane and wrapped a no-look pass around an Adrian defender to a wide open Brand for an easy layup to extend Northern’s lead to 46-32.

A pair of Cevasco free throws gave ONU its biggest lead, 58-43, with four minutes to play.

However, the Bulldogs picked up their defensive intesity and harrassed Northern into a number of turnovers using a full court press in a frantic attempt to get back into the game.

The Bulldogs had an 11-3 run down the stretch to keep the game interesting. Adrian got as close as within seven points of Northern when Liz Hanfeli stole an ONU inbounds pass and converted a layup to make the score 61-54 with 1:10 remaining in the game.

“We didn’t play our best game tonight, but a win is a win,” ONU head coach Michelle Durand said. “You have to give Adrian credit, they played tough the entire game.”

ONU shot 45-percent from the field and 55-percent on 3-pointers, while limiting Adrian to only 17-percent shooting on threes and 42-percent shooting overall.

Ohio Northern begins Ohio Athletic Conference play on Saturday when it travels to Marietta for a 3 p.m. contest.