(NEW CONCORD, Ohio) - Capital University's women's basketball team overcame a 16-1 deficit to start the game and came away with a 61-55 win over Muskingum College Saturday in Ohio Athletic Conference play.
Down by 15 points just five minutes into the contest, the Crusaders reeled off a 26-4 run over the next nine minutes of play, taking a 27-20 lead on a 3-pointer from junior guard Heather McAlpin (Cincinnati/Colerain). McAlpin scored 10 straight points to close the half for the Crusaders, who took a 34-26 advantage into the break.
The Crusaders led by as many as 15 points in the second half and were still up by 12, 51-39, with 8:10 left before the Muskies cut the margin to two with 55 seconds left at 57-55. Freshman guard Tara Harper (Dresden/Tri-Valley) made a pair of free throws with 20 seconds remaining to put the Crusaders up by four. Muskingum's Molly Clark missed a shot and sophomore guard Kristen Richardson (Oxford/Talawanda) pulled down the rebound, and freshman guard Christine Schwartz (New Bremen/New Bremen) made a pair of free throws to seal the victory.
McAlpin had a team-high 16 points and four assists, while Richardson connected on 7-of-8 free throws to score 15 points. Harper added 10 points and junior forward Caitlin Elsass (Batavia/Clermont Northeastern) had seven points and a team high seven rebounds.
Tiffany Youel scored 20 points to pace the Muskies, who also got 14 points and 16 rebounds from Jessica McKenzie. But Muskingum had 19 turnovers, compared to just 10 for Capital, and the Crusaders also connected on 18-of-23 free throw attempts (78.3 percent) as opposed to just 4-of-8 for Muskingum.
Capital improved to 14-7 (8-6 OAC) and has won three straight games. Muskingum fell to 9-12 overall and 3-11 in conference play. The Crusaders host Mount Union College at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in The Capital Center.