ADA — Behind double-doubles from sophomore Cenzie Yoder and senior Kara Dysert, the Ohio Northern women's basketball team defeated Capital 75-63 in a battle of the top teams in the Ohio Athletic Conference at the ONU Sports Center on Wednesday night.
Yoder scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed 11 boards, while Dysert scored 11 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds, including six on the offensive end.
The Polar Bears increase their winning streak to six games, and now hold a 17-3 record (11-2 OAC), while the Crusaders fall to 13-7 overall and 8-5 in the league.
Ohio Northern also continued its recent string of dominant second half performances. ONU has outscored John Carroll 36-24 and Otterbein 29-18 in the second halves of its last two games, and followed those up with a 40-30 second period advantage over Capital.
ONU out-rebounded Capital 42-25, including a 23-7 margin in the second half.
Junior Morgan Dumbaugh also played well, scoring 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting and adding six rebounds.
With ONU leading 14-8 early in the game, Capital went on a 21-6 spurt capped off by two Rebekah Will baskets to take a 29-20 lead with 5:30 left in the first half.
The Polar Bears answered with a 7-0 run of their own, eventually trading baskets until a Dumbaugh 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Northern a 35-33 lead into the break.
As both teams battled back-and-forth, a Will trey helped Capital cut the deficit to 48-43 just under halfway into the second half.
Ohio Northern then took control of the paint, as Yoder scored six points and junior Joanna Snyder added four during a 13-3 ONU run, giving the Polar Bears a 61-46 lead with 5:34 to play.
The Crusaders were unable to cut the margin to less than 10 points, as ONU continued to control the inside game to ride out the 75-63 win.
Snyder finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists to aid Northern's winning effort, while junior Katie Mengos added four points, four assists and four steals.
ONU outscored Capital 26-6 in the paint in the second half, while shooting 29-for-55 (52.7 percent) from the field in the game, compared to 25-for-61 (41.0 percent) for Capital.
"When Capital was up, we switched around our offense and really focused on getting the ball inside, which changed the momentum of the game," head coach Michele Durand said. "Kara and Cenzie played great down low and that was the difference."
Will and Stacy Timmerman led Capital's effort, scoring 16 and 13 points, respectively.
The Polar Bears remain in second place in the conference, one game behind 10th-ranked Mount Union. Capital joins Otterbein and Baldwin-Wallace in a three-way tie for third, three games behind ONU.
ONU will travel to Marietta on Saturday to take on the Pioneers in an OAC game, slated to begin at 3 p.m.