Saturday women: Nice day for Polar Bears

More news about: Bowdoin | Marymount | Ohio Northern | UW-La Crosse | UW-River Falls
Jan 06, 2018
Amy Bullimore scored 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in Ohio Northern's win over No. 18 Marietta.
 Photo by Touhmong Thao, Ohion Northern athletics

With much of the country shivering in freezing temperatures, a pair of Polar Bears grabbed wins on Saturday afternoon.

No. 14 Ohio Northern showed it's still the team to beat in the OAC as the Polar Bears handled No. 18 Marietta, 72-57. ONU closed the first period on a 7-2 run to grab a 19-13 lead and never trailed again. The Polar Bears (12-1, 6-0 OAC) held the Pioneers to 36 percent shooting and outscored them 22-7 at the foul line. Amy Bullimore notched a double-double (23 points, 11 rebounds) for Ohio Northern, her fifth in as many games. Amisha Herd scored 17 for Marietta (12-1, 5-1 OAC).

No. 11 Bowdoin remained unbeaten in impressive fashion with a 66-53 win over No. 4 Tufts. After the Jumbos scored the first two points of the game, Bowdoin scored the next nine and led the rest of the way. Kate Kerrigan had an eventful day with 13 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and nine turnovers for Bowdoin (13-0, 2-0 NESCAC) which has won every game by double-digits. Tufts All-American Melissa Baptista was scoreless and fouled out in just 10 minutes of action.

Marymount dropped out of the Top 25 this week, but the Saints showed they are very much alive in the CAC race. Marymount defeated No. 6 Christopher Newport 77-67 behind 18 points apiece from Regan Lohr and Tyffani McQueen. Marymount (11-2, 6-0 CAC) takes a one-game lead on the Captains, Mary Washington and York (Pa.) in the CAC standings. Christopher Newport (11-2, 5-1 CAC), which played without All-America point guard Sam Porter, will host the Saints in a rematch on Feb. 3.

No. 13 DePauw held off Kenyon 64-58 in the first of two meetings between the NCAC title contenders. The Tigers used a 9-0 run to snap a 53-all tie late in the fourth period and won their 21st NCAC game in 22 tries, as well as their 10th consecutive game overall. 

Elsewhere the UAA began conference play with the travel partners playing each other for the first time this season. No. 10 Rochester narrowly avoided an upset loss at Emory before beating the Eagles 72-68 in double overtime. Emory had a 65-60 lead with a minute to play in the first overtime period when Lauren Foley hit a three-pointer off an assist from Alexandra Leslie and then Lauren Deming hit a jump shot to tie the game with eight seconds left. Deming finished 17 points and Leslie had another well-rounded performance with 14 points and 12 rebounds for Rochester (11-1, 1-0 UAA). Erin Lindahl and Azzairia Jackson-Sherrod had double-doubles for Emory (6-6, 0-1 UAA).

Taylor Lake scored six of her game-high 23 points in the final period for the Maroons (10-2, 1-0 UAA), as the University of Chicago defeated Washington U. 82-76. With the loss, the Bears will likely drop out of the Top 25 for the first time since Jan. 2009. Washington U. has the second longest active streak for consecutive Top 25 appearances behind Amherst. The Bears hold a 50-16 record all-time against Chicago but the Maroons have clinched back-to-back UAA opening contests.

UW-River Falls ran its winning streak to eight consecutive games, as Brynn Liljander hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift the Falcons to a 51-48 win vs. No. 12 UW-Whitewater. River Falls (11-2, 2-0 WIAC) held the Warhawks to 1-for-13 shooting in the fourth quarter and Liljander scored 22 points to help balance a game-high 23 from Andrea Meinert for UW-Whitewater (11-2, 2-2).

UW-La Crosse sent No. 3 UW-Oshkosh to its second conference loss in as many games, beating the Titans 57-51. The Eagles (8-5, 1-1) led wire-to-wire behind 13 points apiece from Elise DeNoyer and Dani Craig. Oshkosh (10-2, 0-2) shot 21 percent from three and 55 percent from the foul line.

No. 17 Juniata returned to conference play with a 61-54 overtime win at Catholic. Dani Atkinson logged 17 points and nine rebounds in 41 minutes for the Eagles (13-0, 2-0), whose two wins come against Scranton and Catholic (10-3, 1-1). SUNY New Paltz turned 18 Cortland turnovers into 21 points and snapped the Red Dragons' six-game winning streak, 58-48.

Master passer Brandi Vallely set a new Centennial Conference record for career assists and No. 15 Muhlenberg cruised past Washington College, 82-58. Vallely tallied nine assists, giving her 574 in 71 games.

Gabrielle Harris scored 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and FDU-Florham held off Misericordia 66-63 in the first meeting of MAC Freedom title hopefuls. The Devils improve to 9-4, 2-0 in conference. Rachel Carmody and Paige Wampole combined for 29 points and 34 rebounds for the Cougars (6-4, 0-1).

Randolph-Macon dropped its second straight, this time falling at Eastern Mennonite 60-54. The Royals held the Yellow Jackets to 22 points in the second half, though Kelly Williams rolled up 15 points and 22 rebounds for Randolph-Macon (9-3, 2-2). Mass-Boston defeated Eastern Connecticut 79-72 and extended its winning streak to 10 games.