CRUSADER WOMEN POWER PAST PURPLE RAIDERS, 67-53

BOX SCORE 

COLUMBUS, Ohio - In a hard fought grudge match between two of the top teams in the Ohio Athletic Conference, the Capital University women’s basketball team prevailed 67-53 over visiting Mount Union College on Wednesday at the Capital Center.

With the win, Capital (8-2) maintained their unblemished record in the Ohio Athletic Conference at 5-0. The last time the Crusaders won their first five games in conference play was in the 2000-01 season, when Capital went 16-2 in OAC play and finished second in the conference.

“This is a very good win. I give a lot of credit to Mount Union, who played very hard,” Head Coach Dixie Jeffers said. “We put a lot of emphasis on rebounding and defense in the second half, and not forcing the issue on offense.”

Junior Abbey Winland (Zanesville, Ohio/Zanesville HS) paced the Capital attack with a career-high 16 points on 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range.

Senior Daniele Sanna’s (Pickerington, OH/ Pickerington North HS) six points in the first half catapulted a 10-0 Crusader run that gave Capital a 20-12 lead at the 7:53 mark of the opening half. After the Purple Raiders recovered, Winland (Zanesville, OH/ Zanesville HS) hit a three-point shot with nine seconds left in the half to give Capital a 25-22 lead at intermission.

“My goal was to sprint down the court and get some fast break points. Once I started to do that, it gave me the confidence to keep rolling.” Sanna said.

Winland and Sanna continued their sharp shooting in the second half as Winland tallied nine points after the break and Sanna added nine of her own to finish with 15 overall.

“(Mount Union) was doubling down on our posts, so my teammates were able to find me and fortunately I was able to make my shots,” said Winland.

Senior Caitlin Elsass (Batavia, OH/Clermont Northeastern HS) was fouled on a layup and converted on the free throw to give Capital their biggest lead to that point at 52-41 lead with 7:37 left. Elsass finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Crusaders maintained their lead for the rest of the contest. In a defensive oriented battle, Capital found an advantage by forcing 24 turnovers and limiting the Purple Raiders to 27.1 percent shooting for the game.

Junior Kristen Richardson (Oxford, OH/ Talawanda HS) rounded out the Crusaders in double figures in scoring, finishing with 11 points, including 5-for-6 from the charity stripe.

Freshman Hilary Kuhns (Fairfield, OH/Fairfield HS) also made her presence felt by hauling down nine rebounds. Senior Heather McAlpin (Cincinnati, OH/ Finneytown HS) added eight points on 3-for-5 shooting, along with recording five rebounds.