BEREA, OHIO --  Freshman forward Kara Dysert and senior guard Alisha Riehart each scored a game-high 21 points as the Ohio Northern University Polar Bear women's basketball team defeated 25th-ranked Baldwin-Wallace College, 67-60, today (Saturday, December 13, 2008) in an Ohio Athletic Conference game in the ONU Sports Center in Ada.

 

In addition to Dysert and Rinehart, ONU had freshman center Steph Hicks had nine points.  BW was led by sophomore guard Amanda Schroeder (Columbus Grove) with 17 points and senior three-time All-OAC guard Amanda Mondrach (Parma/Parma Heights Holy Name) had 10 points.

 

With its win, ONU improves to 4-3 overall and 3-0 in the OAC. With its loss, B-W is now 3-3 overall and 0-2 in the OAC and next plays on Wednesday, December 17 when it hosts OAC arch-rival Mount Union College in the Ursprung Gymnasium in Berea at 7:30 p.m.

 

Ohio Northern opened a 4-2 lead at the 18:47 mark, but the lead was short lived as Mondrach canned a three-pointer to give B-W a 5-4 lead with 18:33 to play.  The Yellow Jackets extended their lead to 15-6 by utilizing a 6-0 run over the next 3:45, capped by a trey from freshman guard Diandra Bremond (Cleveland/ John F. Kennedy).  B-W would extend its first half lead to 10 when junior forward Sasha Samara (Amherst/ Marion Steele) knocked down a jumpshot from senior guard Rachael Quiring's (Brunswick/ Parma Heights Holy Name) assist to give B-W a 20-10 lead with 10:39 to play in the opening stanza.

 

ONU managed to rally late in the first half and closed the gap to two points on two separate occasions, the last coming at the 3:19 mark when Hicks made a foul shot to make the score 25-23.  The Polar Bears needed an 8-0 run over 1:30 to close to within two points, but B-W fired back and extended its lead to 31-25 at halftime.

 

In the second half, B-W extended its lead to nine points four different times, with the last coming on a Schroeder jumper to make the score 44-35 at the 12:39 mark.  The Polar Bears began to steadily trim B-W's lead to one point until Rinehart gave ONU a 45-44 lead with a pair of free throws with 8:47 to play.  Over the next four minutes, there were three ties with the last one being at 49-49 with 4:23 left when senior forward Tricia Fuller made a foul shot.

 

B-W regained the lead at 52-49 with 4:04 left when Schroeder made a three-pointer. ONU tied the game again at 57-57 with 1:46 left when Dysert made a jumper. The Polar Bears then outscored the Yellow Jackets 10-0 to build their largest lead of the contest at 67-57 with nine seconds left when Rinehart made one of two foul shots.

 

Following its home game next Wednesday versus Mt. Union, B-W also plays OAC foe Wilmington College in Berea on Saturday, Dec. 20 at 3:00 p.m. and ends its pre-Christmas schedule at in Greencastle, Indiana against powerful DePauw University on Monday, December 22 at 6:00 p.m.

 

Media and fans are reminded that they can listen to almost every B-W men's and women's basketball games LIVE on campus radio station WBW, 88.3 FM, and via the WBW Internet web site at www.wBW.com.

 

Media and fans are reminded that two more B-W men's basketball games will be televsied by SportsTime Ohio (www.sportstimeohio.com). They are the January 17, 2009 home game versus Muskingum College at 3:00 p.m. and its February 18 contest at cross-town rival John Carroll University at 7:30 p.m.

FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.BWyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.