Box ScoreOAC Tournament ScheduleThe Capital University women’s basketball team defeated Muskingum 77-63 to conclude its 2011-12 regular season at the Muskingum University Performance Court on Saturday afternoon.
The Crusaders will be the fourth seed in the OAC tournament. The team will host a game against the winner of the first-round contest between the No. 5 and 8 seeds at the Capital Center this Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
After trailing in the majority of the opening half, the Crusaders (17-8, 12-6 OAC) didn’t allow the Fighting Muskies (9-16, 4-14 OAC) regain the lead after the 14-minute mark of the second half.
“After a shaky start, we came out and played an intense, high-energy second half,” Capital coach Dixie Jeffers said. “Our seniors played like seniors … we got great contributions from both of them.”
Saturday’s contest was the last regular season game for Capital seniors Shalena Hawkins (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Hilary Kuhns (Fairfield, Ohio). Both players had memorable performances as Hawkins finished with a team-high 25 points and 13 rebounds and Kuhns contributed 22 points while grabbing eight rebounds.
Muskingum opened the game on an 11-4 run in hopes of upsetting their OAC opponent on its home court. Muskingum’s Carissa Bosch led the initial charge by scoring five points.
Midway through the first half, Muskingum still had control of the contest by holding an 18-8 lead. The Fighting Muskies’ 10-point lead was their largest lead in Saturday’s contest. Proving that they wouldn’t let the Fighting Muskies control the rest of the match, Capital stormed right back on a 9-0 run to close the margin to 18-17.
The Crusaders were able to remain close to Muskingum’s lead for the rest of the half as they trailed their opponent 31-30 at the end of the opening period.
Hawkins and Kuhns led the Crusaders in scoring at the end of the first half with 11 and nine points respectively. Hawkins also contributed a team high seven rebounds.
Capital was finally able to take the lead after Kuhns’ free throw gave her team a 39-38 lead at the 17:38 mark. After quickly losing their advantage, Capital followed the lead change by going an 11-3 scoring run to take a 49-42 lead at the 11:30 mark, capped by Kuhns’ free throw. The Crusaders would not let the lead out of their grasp for the rest of the contest.
The Fighting Muskies had an opportunity to potentially tie the game as Amanda Dobbins reduced Capital’s lead to 55-52 at the 7:38 minute mark, but the Crusaders went on a 16-4 scoring run capped by a Kuhns free throw to seal the victory.