#23 Women's Basketball extends winning streak to seven straight with 60-50 victory over Mount Union

By Caleb Scott

ADA — Senior Cenzie Yoder posted a game-high 16 points to lead Ohio Northern to a 60-50 women's basketball win over Mount Union Saturday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears improve their record to 19-4 overall and 12-4 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, while the Purple Raiders fall to 11-12, 5-11.

Junior Jordan Kimes added 15 points and six rebounds for the Polar Bears.

Yoder also tied a career-high with eight assists and pulled down a game-high seven rebounds.

Mount Union was led by Aly Daniel, who scored 10 points and recorded seven rebounds.

A 10-2 run to start the second half, capped off by a layup from sophomore Carly Thomas, gave ONU a 35-27 lead with 15:40 left in the game.

Mount Union bounced back, closing the gap to 43-38 with 10:36 remaining in the half before a 12-5 run capped off by a 3-pointer from Thomas gave the Polar Bears the lead 55-42 with 4:39 left in the game.

Ohio Northern hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch, with four coming from Yoder, to seal the win.

The Polar Bears found themselves up 25-19 with 5:00 remaining in the first half before back-to-back three pointers from Mount Union would knot the game up at half time 25-25.

ONU held the Purple Raiders to 36.2 percent from the field on 21-of-58 shooting and 23.5 percent (4-of-17) from three point land.

The Polar Bears shot 23-of-55 (41.8 percent) from the field and 3-of-9 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

Northern capitalized on 11 Mount Union turnovers, outscoring the Purple Raiders 14-6 on points off turnovers.

"I thought our defense played really well tonight," head coach Michelle Durand said. "This was a big OAC win for us."

Ohio Northern won the rebounding battle 38-34.

The Polar Bears will celebrate Senior Night as they host Wilmington Wednesday night at 7:30 pm at the ONU Sports Center.