Nov. 20, 2007

By Gary Petit

ADA — The Ohio Northern women’s basketball team got 17 points from senior Jenny Markle and rode the momentum of some hot shooting to a 68-57 victory over NCAC-foe Kenyon Tuesday night at the ONU Sports Center.

The win lifts the Polar Bears to 2-1 on the season as the Ladies fall to 2-1.

Markle was 5-of-8 from three-point range and grabbed four boards to go along with her 17 points. Fellow senior Erin Brand chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds.

Senior Megan Cevasco had a solid all-around game for ONU, scoring eight points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing out five assists.

Hilary Gowins led four Ladies in double-figures with 17 points. Eva George and Alisha Moreno each had 12 points and Anne Dugan added 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds.

With the score tied at 6-6, Moreno sparked a 12-3 with a jumper to give Kenyon its biggest lead of the game at 18-9 with 8:40 to go in the first half.

Despite opening the game by making just three of their first 19 shots, the Polar Bears made eight of their final nine shots of the half, and found themselves heading into the locker room with a 28-27 lead.

ONU came out of the locker room as hot as they went in, making 11 of their first 15 shots, including three each from Brand and Leah Zimmerman. The Polar Bears had opened a 53-40 lead with 9:16 to go in the game.

Kenyon cut the lead to eight points a 57-49 with five minutes to go, but three points from Alisha Rinehart and a three-pointer from Markle pushed the ONU lead up to 14 with 3:25 left.

The Bears would salt away the final three minutes and pull out a 68-57 victory.

“This was a good win tonight,” said head coach Michele Durand. “Kenyon is a very good team. The shots that weren’t falling for us last weekend went in tonight and that was key.”

ONU used a balanced attack, as the Polar Bear bench outscored Kenyon’s bench 21-4. Northern shot 50 percent from the floor compared to 38.2 percent for Kenyon.

The Polar Bears will be back in action Wednesday, Nov. 28, when they host Adrian (Mich.) in a non-conference matchup at 7:30 pm.