Karissa Steffas leads Women's Basketball to 67-58 victory over Capital
By Ashley Birchmeier
COLUMBUS — Junior Karissa Steffas lead the Ohio Northern women's basketball team past Capital 67-58 Saturday at the Capital Center.
The Polar Bears improve to 7-2 overall, 3-0 Ohio Athletic Conference, while Capital falls to 3-4, 1-2.
Steffas led the way for ONU recording a double-double with game-highs in points (18) and rebounds (12).
Sophomore Britt Lauck also had a game-high 18 points and added six rebounds.
With just over seven minutes till the break the Polar Bears were able to put together an 11-0 run to jump to its largest lead 35-17.
Junior Brooke Espenschied led the run shooting a perfect 3-3 from the free throw line.
A jumper from senior Jordan Kimes and a pair of made free throws from Amy Bullimore closed out the first half.
The Polar Bears dominated the first half entering the break with a 43-23 advantage.
Capital started the second half scoring the first four points to cut into ONU's lead 45-27.
The Crusaders continued to battle in the second half as they were able to put together a 6-0 run and cut the Polar Bears lead to 53-46.
A jumper from Lauck and a pair of free throws from both Kimes and Steffas was able to push the lead back to 59-48 in favor of ONU.
In the final minute of play the Polar Bears were able to hold off the Crusaders as junior Carly Thomas was able to hit a pair of free throws to seal the victory 67-58.
Ohio Northern out rebounded Capital 50-41 in the contest.
The Polar Bears are next in action December 20th as they host Muskingum at 3 pm.