BOX SCORE
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A 22-5 first half run sparked Capital University's women's basketball team to a 72-54 victory over Muskingum College Saturday at The Capital Center in Ohio Athletic Conference play.
The win improved the Crusaders to 15-4 on the season and 12-2 in the OAC, which keeps Capital a game ahead of second-place Baldwin-Wallace College atop the OAC standings. The Muskies slipped to 14-7 and 9-5 in the conference.
Senior forward Caitlin Elsass (Batavia, Ohio/Clermont Northeastern HS) started the surge with a bucket underneath, and a three-pointer by junior guard Kristen Richardson (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda HS) gave Capital a 17-11 lead at the 11:46 mark. Sophomore forward Lindsay Watt (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville North HS), who scored all nine of her points in the first half, followed with four straight free throws as the lead built to 10.
Watt's three-point play with just under five minutes left in the frame bumped the lead to 30-15, and a fastbreak layup by Richardson capped the run with just under a minute left that had Capital in front 34-16, its biggest lead in the half.
The Muskies answered with a 10-0 run of their own early in the second half to trim the lead to 43-34 with 11:45 left. But senior guard Heather McAlpin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain HS) drained a three-pointer, then followed with a steal and outlet pass to senior forward Daniele Sanna (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North HS), who made the layup in transition. Richardson then had a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup on the next Muskingum possession to bring the lead back to 16, and Capital led by as many as 23 points down the stretch.
Richardson scored a game-high 19 points and also grabbed six rebounds. Sanna followed with 16 points - 14 in the second half - and also hauled down six rebounds, while Elsass posted 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
The Crusaders shot 26-of-52 (50 percent) from the field and also hit 17-of-19 (89.5 percent) from the free throw line. The league's top defense limited the Muskies to just 26.5 percent (9-of-34) shooting in the first half and 37.1 percent (23-of-62) for the game.
Both teams turned the ball over 19 times, and though Muskingum had 14 offensive rebounds, they could turn it into just 11 second chance points.
The Crusaders, winners of four straight, will take to the road and play at Mount Union College at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.