Six Polar Bears score in double figures in victory at Muskingum

Feb. 20, 2008

By Steven Wright

NEW CONCORD — Six members of the Ohio Northern women’s basketball team scored in double figures as the Polar Bears cruised to an 86-66 victory Wednesday evening at the Muskingum College Recreation Center.

The win secures second place in the Ohio Athletic Conference for ONU and improves the team to 18-6, 13-4 OAC.

Muskingum falls to 9-15, 3-14.

Mallory Rentz scored a career-high 10 points in 19 minutes off the bench on 4-of-5 from the field, including two 3-point shots.

Emily Culbertson was perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line, all of which came in the last 3:02 of the contest, to finish with 13 points.

As a team, the Polar Bears shot 16-for-16 from the free-throw line in the final 3:02 and 24-for-27 on the game.

Providing a great all-around game was Leah Zimmerman who scored 10 points, dished out a career-high seven assists and pulled down five rebounds.

NCAA III 3-point percentage leader Jenny Markle shot 80 percent (4-of-5) from beyond the arc, as she scored a team-high 18 points.

Megan Cevasco (12) and Erin Brand (11) were the other Polar Bears eclipsing the double-digit scoring mark.

The game began tightly contested, as Muskingum held a narrow 16-14 lead with 12:01 remaining in the first half.

A 3-pointer by Rentz 30 seconds later sparked an 11-2 run that gave the Polar Bears a 25-18 lead with 7:13 to go.

Cevasco and Markle each hit a 3-pointer in the final 1:41 of the half to give Northern a 35-26 halftime lead.

Muskingum began the second half strong, cutting the lead to 38-36 with 15:11 left in the game.

However, consecutive 3-pointers from Cevasco and Rentz and an additional layup by Cevasco quickly pushed the lead back to double figures.

Northern held a slim 54-49 lead with 7:41 remaining before it exploded to end the game on a 32-17 run, thanks in large part to the perfect free-throw shooting down the stretch.

Ohio Northern will wrap up regular season play on the road at Mount Union on Saturday at 3 pm.