Late 13-0 run lifts Women's Basketball to a 65-57 victory over Carthage (Wis.) on Thursday at D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas
By Tim Glon
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Ohio Northern used a late 13-0 run to post a 65-57 women's basketball victory over Carthage (Wis.) on the first day of the 9th annual D3hoops.com Classic on Thursday afternoon at the South Point Arena.
The Polar Bears (7-4 overall) were led by junior Abby Weeks (West Chester/Mount Notre Dame) with 15 points, sophomore Emily Brock (Akron/Revere) with 14 points and senior Alyssa Manley (Lima/Bath) with 10 points.
The Lady Reds (5-5 overall) got 22 points from Maggie Berigan.
Northern trailed by as many as 10 points in the third quarter and were down 56-52 with 5:02 to play, but outscored CC 13-0 over the next 4:50 to rally for the victory.
The Polar Bears were only 3-of-11 shooting in the fourth quarter, but made 10-of-12 free throws in the period.
"I'm very proud of the way we kept battling and fought through some poor shooting stretches during the game," ONU head coach Michele Durand said. "We went to a zone in the fourth quarter and got some stops and that was also a big key. The other big thing was getting to the foul line in the fourth quarter. Carthage is a very good team and this is a big win for us."
Northern survived a scoring drought of nearly six minutes in the second quarter, but were still in the game only down 32-27 at intermission.
After CC scored the first five points of the third period to go up 37-27, the Polar Bears answered with a 13-5 run to pull within 42-40 with 5:09 left in the quarter.
A basket by Brock 16 seconds ahead of the buzzer pulled ONU within 49-47 after three periods.
Carthage extended its lead to 53-47, but three free throws by Weeks and two more by sophomore Sydney Ward (Columbus/Upper Arlington) got Ohio Northern within 53-52 with 5:16 to play.
Brock sparked a 13-0 run with a 3-pointer at the 3:36 mark, giving Northern its first lead of the second half at 57-56.
Four free throws over the next 1:18 by senior Jenna Dirksen (Beavercreek/Carroll) made it 61-56 with 2:18 left.
Brock nailed another three with 1:29 to go and Manley added a free throw after she was fouled during the shot and ONU's lead was 65-56.
Ohio Northern made 20-of-62 field goals for 32.3 percent and were 8-of-25 from 3-point range for 32.0 percent, while Carthage was 23-of-59 from the floor for 39.0 percent and made 6-of-27 from beyond the arc for 22.2 percent.
ONU out-rebounded CC 41-32 behind the 8-point, 9-rebound performance by Dirksen.
Northern is now a perfect 5-0 in games played in Las Vegas, including a 3-0 mark in the D3hoops.com Classic.
The Polar Bears will return to action in their final game of the D3hoops.com Classic against Willamette (Ore.) on Friday at 5 pm (2 pm EST) at the South Point Arena.
