By Andrew Korba
Senior Morgan Dumbaugh scored 21 points to lead the No. 6 Ohio Northern women's basketball team to a 80-49 victory over Muskingum on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, ONU improves to 20-1 and a perfect 14-0 in OAC play, while Muskingum falls to 7-14, 2-12.
The win extends the Polar Bears win streak to a school record 19 games and also clinches at least a first round bye in the OAC Tournament.
Dumbaugh was 8-of-9 from the field and also grabbed three rebounds.
Senior Joanna Snyder chipped in with 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while junior Cenzie Yoder added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Hannah Nelson and Karen Sidwell each scored 11 points to pace Muskingum.
Dumbaugh scored the first nine points for ONU, helping the Polar Bears grab an early 9-2 lead.
A layup Yoder pushed the ONU lead to 14-4, midway through the first half.
Snyder then drained a jumper, giving the Polar Bears a 20-7 advantage with 7:25 left in the first half.
The Muskies would cut the Northern lead back to single digits, but a layup from sophomore Jordan Kimes just before the first half buzzer gave the Polar Bears a 31-20 lead at the break.
Northern put the game away in the second half using a 11-1 run to open up a 48-28 lead.
Snyder scored six points during the run, Dumbaugh added a three pointer and junior Sara Kocian scored a hoop.
A jumper by senior Katie Jones gave the Polar Bears their largest lead of the afternoon at 74-42 with 3:15 remaining.
ONU shot a solid 31-of-54 (57.4 percent) from the field and 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) in three pointers.
The Muskies were 18-of-60 (30.0 percent) from the field and 6-of-22 (27.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Polar Bears dominated the rebounding battle, grabbing 43 compared to 24 for Muskingum.
ONU also outscored Muskingum 34-16 in the paint.
Ohio Northern will be in action again when it host Heidelberg on Wedesday at the ONU Sports Center at 7:30 p.m.
The game is the team's annual "Hoops for a Cure" fundraiser, where Northern will be selling baked goods and raffling off assorted gift baskets.
