Women's Basketball tops Baurch (N.Y.) 62-48 in first game of D3hoops.com Classic

By: Andrew Korba

LAS VEGAS (Nev.) -- Junior Jordan Kimes recorded her second straight double-double to lead the Ohio Northern women's basketball team past Baruch (N.Y.) at the D3hoops.com Classic at the South Point Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Polar Bears are now 8-2 on the season, while the Bearcats drop to 7-2.

Kimes finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Sophomore Karissa Steffas added a career-high 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting.

Senior Cenzie Yoder finished with nine points and 10 rebounds and freshman Britt Lauck added eight points off the bench.

After Baruch opened the game with the first two points, Northern reeled off nine consecutive points to take a early 9-2 lead.

The Bearcats would chip away at the lead and cut it to 21-20, but ONU scored the final six points of the first half to take a 27-20 lead into the break.

Baruch scored the first seven points of the second half to tie the game at 27-27.

But Steffas sparked a 6-0 run, scoring all six points, to push the Polar Bears lead back to 33-27 with just over 14 minutes to go.

"We needed to settle down a bit," said head coach Michele Durand. "We had to take care of the ball and take better shots. After Baruch tied it, we got more into a flow and didn't let them get into their transition game."

A jumper by Baruch's Kiara Johnson cut the ONU lead to 50-45 with 5:50 remaining.

But Northern responded by scoring the next six points to push its lead back to 56-45 with just over two minutes remaining.

ONU went 24-of-51 (47.1 percent) from the field, while the Bearcats finished 21-of-61 (31.1 percent) in shooting.

"Baruch is a great team, that will not lose many more games this season," added Durand. "This is a huge win for us. We played really good and will be ready to again tomorrow."

The Polar Bears dominated the rebounding battle, owning a 48-30 advantage, including 30-15 on the defensive glass.

Ohio Northern will return to action on Monday, when it takes on No. 8 Wisconsin-Whitewater at the D3hoops.com Classic at 5 pm EST.