(COLUMBUS, Ohio)--Capital University's women's basketball team tallied its fourth consecutive winning season and 18th out of the previous 19 seasons in going 17-10, while also making it to the semi-finals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament.
The season got off to a tremendous start with the Crusaders winning ten of their first 12 games, catapulting them to No. 17 in the country in the D3hoops.com poll. Included in this streak were wins over nationally-ranked Washington (Mo.) University and eventual OAC champion Baldwin-Wallace College. Capital would fall into a bit of a rut in the month of January when it lost five of six games to end the month. The losing would end there as the Crusaders proceeded to win five of their final seven regular-season games to capture the fifth seed in the OAC Tournament.
Capital avenged two regular-season loses to rival Otterbein College in the OAC first round by winning 72-66 in Westerville. In the semi's, the Crusaders gave top-seeded and No. 9 in the nation Baldwin-Wallace all it could handle until a three-pointer and a pair of free-throws in the final minute gave the Jackets the 56-51 victory. The Crusaders ended the season 17-10 overall, and 10-8 in the OAC.
The Crusaders were led by many impressive individual performers in the 2007-08 season. Junior foward Caitlin Elsass (Batavia/Clermont Northeastern) and sophomore guard Kristen Richardson (Oxford/Talawanda) each earned second-team All-OAC honors for their spectacular seasons.
Elsass led the team in rebounding (7.6 rpg) and field goal percentage (.496) and was the second leading-scorer, averaging 13.9 ppg. She led the OAC in offensive rebounding (2.9 per game) and was fourth in total rebounding, eighth in field goal percentage and ninth in scoring. She scored a season and career-high 30 points against Wittenberg on Jan. 24, while also grabbing a season-high 11 rebounds in that contest. In the OAC Tournament Semifinals, Elsass scored 28 points to go along with 11 rebounds against top-seed Baldwin-Wallace College.
Richardson led the team in scoring, going for 14.8 a game, which was good for fifth in the conference. She went for double-figures in all but seven games, and also grabbed four rebounds a game. Also turning in solid seasons for Capital were junior guard Heather McAlpin (Cincinnati/Colerain): 8.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.6 apg, 36 blocks, 55 steals; senior forward Tiffany Withers (Pickerington/Pickerington Central): 5.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg; sophomore guard Chelsea Ruoff (Grove City/Grove City): 6.4 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .810 ft pct.; and freshman guard Tara Harper (Dresden/Tri-Valley): 3.7 ppg, .783 ft pct.
Capital looks to continue its winning ways next season as it returns four of five starters and its entire supporting cast.