Kara Dysert paces Women's Basketball in 68-40 win over Muskingum in OAC opener

ADA — The Ohio Northern women's basketball team allowed a season low 40 points in a 68-40 win over Muskingum to open Ohio Athletic Conference play at the ONU Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, ONU improves to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in the OAC, while the Muskies fall to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

Senior Kara Dysert led the Polar Bears in scoring and rebounding, tallying 16 points and nine boards.

The ONU defense limited Muskingum to just 14-of-51 (27.5 percent) from the field and 26 total rebounds, compared to 28-of-54 (51.9 percent) and 40 rebounds for Northern.

After the Muskies jumped out to an early 7-6 lead, the Polar Bears used runs of 13-0 and 8-0 to control the rest of the half, giving ONU a run of 30-10 to close the first half with a 36-17 lead.

Junior Morgan Dumbaugh led the way in the opening period, scoring 10 points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting and 4-of-4 from the foul line. She finished with 12 points and four assists.

After a three-pointer for Muskingum early in the half, ONU went on a 15-2 streak, a span in which five different Polar Bears scored, to extend ONU's lead to 53-22 with 12:39 to play.

Muskingum cut the deficit to 24 points, but an 11-2 ONU run, including four points each from Dysert and junior Joanna Snyder, increased the margin to a game-high 33-point lead of 68-35 for ONU with 3:23 left to seal the game.

The Muskies scored five straight points to end the game, but it was not enough to surmount the Polar Bears.

Snyder finished with a solid 14 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Cenzie Yoder added six points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Junior Katie Mengos earned four steals to lead the ONU defense, also recording four points, four rebounds and four assists.

Ohio Northern will return to action on Wednesday, as the team travels to Otterbein for just its second road game, including the first of OAC action, at 7:30 p.m.