Wittenberg uses late second half charge to beat Women's Basketball 52-44

Kara Dysert

By Steven Wright

| Box Score |

ADA - Freshman Kara Dysert hit a jumper with 5:20 remaining in the game to give the Ohio Northern women's basketball team a 40-37 lead, but Wittenberg ended on a 15-4 run to defeat the Polar Bears 52-44 Tuesday night at the ONU Sports Center.

Wittenberg remains undefeated at 3-0 on the season, while the Polar Bears drop to 1-2.

WU's Katherine Hueter hit a 3-point shot at 4:59 to tie the game, as the Tigers would not trail for the remainder of the contest.

Senior Emily Culbertson hit two free throws to tie the game 42-42 with just under four minutes remaining before Wittenberg scored eight unanswered points to take control of the game.

Dysert led the Polar Bears with 11 points and seven rebounds, as senior Alisha Rinehart scored a game-high 16 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line.

Sophomore Brittany Schroeder also did well on the boards with seven rebounds.

The game got off to a slow start in the first half with the scored tied 11-11 with 8:28 until intermission.

The Polar Bears then scored seven straight thanks to a jumper by Rinehart followed by a 3-pointer and a layup by Culbertson.

Freshman Lauren Cassell his a jumper with 56 seconds left in the first half to push the ONU lead to eight at 25-17 before Wittenberg got a layup to make the score 25-19 at halftime.

Northern matched its largest first half lead of eight points with 16:55 to go when Rinhart hit a jumper to make the score 31-23.

The Tigers continued to chip away at the lead before tying the game at 40-40 and eventually pulling away from the Polar Bears.

Both teams had trouble taking care of the basketball with ONU and WU making 23 and 22 turnovers, respectively.

The Wittenberg bench outscored that of Ohio Northern 17-8.

Stephanie Boardman had 12 points for WU and Hueter chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.

The Polar Bears will return to action on Wednesday, December 3, at Adrian (Mich.) at 7:30 pm.