Jordan Kimes scores career-high 33 points in No. 24 Women's Basketball 72-57 victory over Otterbein

By: Andrew Korba

WESTERVILLE -- Junior Jordan Kimes scored a career-high 33 points to lead the No. 24 Ohio Northern women's basketball team to a 72-57 road victory at Otterbein on Wednesday night at the Rike Center.

With the win, ONU pushes its record to 16-4 on the season and 9-4 in OAC play, while the Cardinals fall to 7-13, 3-10.

The victory also clinches a spot in the OAC Tournament for the Polar Bears.

Kimes finished the game 16-of-21 (76.2 percent) from the field and pulled down six rebounds.

Her 33 points are the fourth most scored in a game in program history.

Senior Cenzie Yoder added eight points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Brooke Espenschied scored five points, dished out six assists and pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds.

Tabatha Piper led three Cardinals in double figures with 12 points.

Northern would use a 7-0 spurt to take a 23-9 lead with 6:47 left in the first half.

ONU would hold the lead and take a 32-18 advantage into the break.

Otterbein would trim the Polar Bears lead to 43-36, but Northern responded with a 13-2 run, capped off on a 3-pointer from junior Kaitlyn Theisen, to push its lead back to 56-38 with just over 10 minutes to play.

The Cardinals would cut the ONU lead to 66-57 with 2:53 remaining.

But the Polar Bears scored the final six points and held the Cardinals scoreless for the rest of the game.

Northern finished the game 29-of-60 (48.3 percent) from the field and 12-of-15 (80.0 percent) from the free throw line, while Otterbein was 20-of-53 (37.7 percent) shooting and 14-of-16 (87.5 percent) from the charity stripe.

ONU dominated the glass, outrebounding the Cardinals 42-24.

The Polar Bears also outscored Otterbein 40-12 in the paint and held a 14-4 advantage in second chance points.

Ohio Northern will return to action on Saturday, when it travels to take on Muskingum at 2 pm.