The Ohio Northern women's basketball team dropped a tough contest to No. 9 Washington University (Mo.) by a 63-60 score on Saturday night in the McWilliams Classic final.
Northern now stands at 1-1 on the season, while the Bears move to 2-0.
Junior Cenzie Yoder paced ONU with 18 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Brooke Espenschied scored 15 points off the bench and senior Joanna Snyder finished with 12.
Espenschied and Snyder were also named to the All-Tournament team.
Melissa Gilkey and Jordan Rettig led the way for Wash U., each scoring 13 points apiece.
The Polar Bears got off to a solid start, building an early 10-2 lead capped off by an Espenschied layup with 12:45 left in the first half.
Northern would hold the lead for the majority of the first half and took a 31-28 lead into halftime.
With the game tied, Northern would use a quick 5-0 spurt to open up a 46-41 lead with 13:32 to play.
The Bears would come right back and use a 7-0 run of their own to take a 48-46 lead with 9:33 left to play.
ONU would respond with a 7-2 run to build a 53-50, capped off by two free throws by senior Morgan Dumbaugh.
The lead would change hand three more times before Wash U. opened up a 61-57 lead with 1:19 remaining.
Espenschied would sink a three to cut the deficit to 61-60 with 49 seconds left. The Polar Bears would then get a defensive stop, but could not grab the rebound, leading to two free throws by Alysaa Johanson and a 63-60 lead for the Bears with 10 seconds left.
Yoder would miss a three pointer with three seconds left and after a team rebound, Mengos' three was off the mark allowing Wash U. the victory.
Northern shot 27-of-63 (42.9 percent) from the field, while the Bears were 23-of-51 (45.1 percent).
Wash U. won the rebounding battle 38-29.
ONU had 14 turnovers compared to 18 for the Bears.
Ohio Northern will be in action again on Tuesday night when they host Kenyon in their home opener at 6 pm.
