BOX SCORE
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Four Capital women’s basketball players reached double figures in scoring as the first-place Crusaders earned another road victory at rival Otterbein, 73-57 in front of 1,728 fans at the Rike Center.
With the win, Capital moved to 10-3 overall on the season and 7-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference play. Otterbein fell to 8-8 overall and 4-5 in OAC action.
Junior Kristen Richardson (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda HS) paced the CU offense throughout the night. She made 7-of-18 shots from the floor and converted on all six trips to the free throw line to finish with a game-high 20 points. Richardson added a team-best seven assists to go along with six rebounds, four steals and one block.
Senior Heather McAlpin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain HS) followed with a career-high tying 18 points as she hit 5-of-9 shots from the field and 8-of-11 from the charity stripe.
Classmates Caitlin Elsass (Batavia, Ohio/Cleremont Northeastern HS) and Daniele Sanna (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North HS) scored 15 and 11 points respectively while contributing on the defensive end of the floor as well. Elsass added nine rebounds, two steals and one block while Sanna finished with six rebounds and five steals.
Overall, Capital out shot Otterbein 43.1 percent to 41.8 percent from the field while using a 42-34 advantage at points in the paint and a 23-13 lead in points off turnovers to take home the victory.
Capital led from wire to wire as Sanna hit a jumper in the paint just 31 seconds into the game to get the Crusaders started. CU opened the game on a 9-2 run that was paced by five points in the opening 3:02 from Elsass.
Sanna stretched the Crusader lead into double digits for the first time with an offensive rebound and a put-back layup at the 12:31 mark of the first half for a 20-10 advantage. After Otterbein responded on a few occasions, Capital put the game in its control for good when Elsass drilled a pair of free throws with 3:58 left in the opening stanza. The shots gave CU a 33-22 lead and OC would not get to within single digits for the remainder of the contest.
Capital returns to the road with a trip to Muskingum on Wednesday. The game between the Crusaders and Fighting Muskies is scheduled to tipoff at 7:30 p.m. ET.