By Tim Glon
ADA — The Ohio Northern women's basketball team was clinging to a 36-35 lead late in the third quarter against No. 8-ranked John Carroll.
The Polar Bears dominated the game the rest of the way, making 10 of their last 11 shots and outscoring the Blue Streaks 32-18 over the final 12:44 to post a convincing 68-53 victory on Saturday night at the ONU Sports Center.
ONU (4-4 overall, 4-4 Ohio Athletic Conference) got 12 points from senior Sydney Ward (Columbus/Upper Arlington) and junior Lexi Jacobs (Wapakoneta) in the biggest coaching victory for ONU's first-year head coach Mark Huelsman.
JCU (7-1, 7-1) got a game-high 18 points and seven rebounds from Olivia Nagy and 14 points and seven rebounds from Nicole Heffington.
After watching John Carroll come from behind in the game's final two minutes to win 55-52 on Friday, Ohio Northern was determined to close out tonight's contest.
Jacobs started ONU's impressive final run with a basket at the 2:23 mark of the third quarter to give the hosts a 38-35 lead.
Junior Alissa Stahler (Lima/Shawnee) scored with 1:11 to go and Jacobs nailed a 3-pointer with 31 seconds left as Northern led 43-37 entering the fourth quarter.
The Polar Bears went to a 2-3 zone and outscored the Blue Streaks 15-4 over the first 6:19 of the final period to take a commanding 58-41 lead with 3:41 to play.
John Carroll scored five points in a 14 second span to pull within 58-46 with 3:11 left, but Northern's defense kept the guests at bay the rest of the way.
"This was a great team win for us," Huelsman said. "Everyone on our team played well. Emily Brock got us off to a great start and Ward was good all night. Lexi also played a good all-around game. Our seniors continue to show leadership and that leadership will be key for us the rest of the season."
Northern got off to a hot start and led 25-11 just 1:21 into the second quarter.
JCU answered with a 10-0 to get within 25-21 and ONU led 28-25 at halftime.
Ohio Northern finished the game 23-of-52 from the floor for 44.2 percent and was 8-of-22 from 3-point range for 36.4 percent, while the Blue Streaks made 21-of-53 field goals for 39.6 percent and were 7-of-26 from beyond the arc for 26.9 percent.
ONU won the rebounding battle 33-28.
FRIDAY'S GAME
ADA — The Ohio Northern women's basketball team took No. 8-ranked John Carroll to the wire on Friday night before falling late 55-52 at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.
Sophomore Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) led ONU (3-4 overall, 3-4 Ohio Athletic Conference) with 12 points.
Senior Sydney Ward (Columbus/Upper Arlington) added nine points and eight rebounds and junior Jaidyn Hale(Lima/Bath) scored nine points for ONU.
The Blue Streaks (7-0, 7-0) led 45-38 three minutes into the fourth quarter, but a 7-0 Ohio Northern run tied the game at 45-all with 4:56 left to play.
Serbin nailed a 3-pointer with 2:18 to go gave ONU a 48-47 lead.
But the Blue Streaks answered with five straight points to regain a 52-48 advantage with 55 seconds to go.
Hale and got Northern within 52-50 with a pair of free throws with 38 seconds remaining.
John Carroll ran the clock down and scored with 11 seconds left to go up 54-50.
Hale again scored with five seconds to play to make it 54-52.
JCU made one of two free throws with three seconds left and ONU was unable to get off a desperation 3-pointer to tie the game in the final seconds.
JCU was led by the league's leading scorer, Nicole Heffington, with 17 points.
Ohio Northern finished the game 19-of-61 from the floor for 31.1 percent and made 4-of-23 three-pointer for 17.4 percent.
John Carroll was 18-of-55 from the floor for 32.7 percent and hit 5-of-20 3-pointers for 25.0 percent.
ONU won the battle of the boards by a 44-40 margin, led by Ward and junior Kate Iliff (Lorain/Steele) with eight boards each.
