BOX SCORE
ADA, Ohio – A last second shot by visiting Capital missed the mark as the Crusaders fell to Ohio Northern, 60-59 in Ohio Athletic Conference women’s basketball action on Saturday.
The loss was the first in conference play this season for CU (8-3, 5-1 OAC) which had just two players reach double figures in scoring.
Junior Kristen Richardson (Oxford, Ohio/ Talawanda HS) led the way with 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field. She added four rebounders, one block and one steal.
Senior forward Caitlin Elsass (Batavia, Ohio/Clermont Northeastern HS) added 11 points, six rebounds, two steals and one block as Capital posted a 28-24 edge at points in the paint.
The Crusaders outshot the Polar Bears 41.7 percent from the field to 37.5 percent, but CU could not overcome a 15-for-28 performance at the free throw line along with a 21-13 lead by ONU in points off turnovers and a 12-5 advantage at second chance points.
Ohio Northern battled its way to an eight point lead with 6:35 left in the first half before Capital responded with a three-point shot by Audrey Mitchell at the 5:52 mark. Mitchell hit another trey with 4:15 remaining to pull the Crusaders to within a pair at 26-24. After the ball switched sides for the next two minutes, Caitlin Elsass went to the line a drilled a pair of free throws with 2:20 remaining to knot the score at 26-all.
Tara Harper hit another free throw with 1:51 left to put CU ahead by one, but a pair of baskets by the ONU down the stretch gave the Polar Bears a 30-27 lead heading into the locker room at halftime. Caitlin Elsass, Kristen Richardson and Audrey Mitchell had six points each for the Crusaders in the first 20 minutes of action.
The lead seesawed in the opening minutes of the second half before Kristen Richardson hit a free throw at the 10:43 mark to put the Crusaders on top 42-38. From there, Ohio Northern would go on a 12-2 run over the next 2:05 to build a 50-44 lead with 8:37 left. That advantage would be short lived as Caitlin Elsass would hit a shot from the line to start a 5-0 Crusader run to pull CU within one point at 50-49 with 5:21 remaining.
Ohio Northern regained its momentum and posted a 5-2 spurt of its own capped by a Kara Dysert three-point shot for a 56-51 lead. The Crusaders would get to within one on three more occasions down the stretch, but a jumper at the buzzer missed its mark as ONU escaped with a 60-59 victory.
Capital will resume its road stretch with a trip to Heidelberg on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.