COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Capital University women's basketball senior class added another page to the storied history of Crusader basketball on Senior Day as its 84-59 victory over visiting Otterbein clinched the OAC Regular Season Championship outright in front of 1,947 fans on Saturday.
Capital (19-5, 15-3 OAC) won its conference-record ninth OAC Regular Season Title and will be the top seed in the 25th Annual OAC Tournament, which begins this week. The Crusaders will play host to Ohio Northern on Tuesday in an OAC Quarterfinal Round matchup beginning at 7:30 p.m.
"We are very thankful at this time of the year to be at home and have the chance to stay at home," Head Coach Dixie Jeffers said. "It think we have earned that right to be here and we did it the hard way. Winning the Ohio Athletic Conference is a tough achievement because it is a difficult thing to do."
The day began with a pregame recognition for Head Coach Dixie Jeffers' 500th win at Capital and ended with a ceremony to honor the four members of the Crusader senior class. However, it was a junior that put her name into the CU record books and stole the show while leading CU to victory.
Junior Kristen Richardson (Oxford, Ohio/Talawanda HS) led all players with a season-best 29 points and during the first half became CU's second player this week to join the 1,000-Point Club. Richardson finished just one point shy of her career-high in scoring after making 12-of-16 shots from the floor while collecting four steals, three rebounds and one assist. She was the 18th player in CU history to tally 1,000 career points and now ranks 16th all-time in scoring at Capital with 1,018 career points.
"I am not surprised at all to see Kristen play this way," Jeffers commented. "She is one of the most focused kids I have coached in very long time. All I can say is ‘Wow'. She makes us go in so many ways. The way she approaches the game and attacks the game is contagious."
Senior forward Caitlin Elsass (Batavia, Ohio/Clermont Northeastern HS) followed with 17 points in the paint while connecting on 9-of-10 shots from the free throw line. She also dished out three assists and pulled down four rebounds to finish the game with 539 in her career, which is tied for 10th most all-time at Capital.
"We hope to have her back next year after she was injured as missed her whole freshman season," Jeffers said. "However, right now we have our minds on letting Caitlin move up the charts throughout the rest of this season."
Classmate Daniele Sanna (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North HS) added 16 points to mark her 13th consecutive game to reach double figures in scoring. Sanna drilled 5-of-7 shots from the field while also collecting six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
"Every championship is special, but our group of seniors this year led by Daniele Sanna has been great," Jeffers said. "The way she (Sanna) held herself and pushed this team was a big difference in our success."
Fellow seniors Heather McAlpin (Cincinnati, Ohio/Colerain HS) and Katy Lafferty (Batavia, Ohio/Clermont Northeastern HS) each saw significant time during their final regular season home game at the Capital Center. McAlpin scored five points and dished out five assists in 24 minutes of action at point guard. Lafferty had one point, one rebound and one steal in 15 minutes of play.
"We are playing pretty good basketball right now, but we will go as far as our seniors want to take us," Jeffers said. "If our seniors want to keep playing, then we are going to keep playing."