ALLIANCE, Ohio—The No. 6-ranked Mount Union women's basketball team won its third straight Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament championship with a convincing 77-60 victory over Ohio Northern at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex on Saturday. The Purple Raiders led by more than 20 points for most of the second half on their way to earning the conference's automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament.

Senior Kori Wiedt (North Olmsted/North Olmsted) scored 16 points, including five three-pointers, on her way to OAC Tournament Most Valuable Player honors for the second straight year.

Fellow senior Amanda Rose (Uniontown/Green) and junior Rosa LaMattina (Westlake/Westlake) were also named to the All-Tournament Team after finishing with 14 points and four assists apiece. Rose also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds in the win.

Trailing 7-6 five minutes into the game, Mount Union (26-1) used a 15-4 run to take a 10-point lead. Ohio Northern cut the lead to four with 5:24 to play in the half, but the Raiders responded with a 16-4 run for 40-24 halftime lead.

A layup by Rose capped a 14-3 run to open the second half, giving the Raiders their largest lead at 54-27. The Polar Bears outscored the Raiders 33-23 over the final 16 minutes for the final score.

The Raiders have now won 21 straight games overall and 23 straight games at home dating back to the 2009-10 season.

This year's senior class has accumulated 94 wins over their four years at Mount Union. Wiedt had 48 points and nine three-pointers while Rose had 28 points and 10 rebounds during the Raiders' two tournament games. Classmates Erin Schmidt (Akron/Walsh Jesuit) and Kelly Evans (Twinsburg/Twinsburg) were also factors for the Raiders. In those two games, Schmidt scored 12 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and made several hustle plays while Evans added a pair of three-pointers, three rebounds, and two assists.

Junior Tierney Allen (Alliance/Alliance) displayed her overall floor game with six points, seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Freshman Aly Daniel (Willard/Willard) contributed six points and three rebounds to lead a productive bench effort.

Ohio Northern (21-6) was led by All-Tournament Team selection Kara Dysert, who finished with eight points, five rebounds, and three assists.

Morgan Dumbaugh made three trifectas and scored a team-best 11 points. Cenzie Yoder and Marissa Clark added eight points apiece for the Polar Bears.

The loss marks the end of Ohio Northern's best season in over 20 years. The 21 wins are the second-most in program history and this was the Polar Bears' first appearance in the OAC Tournament final since 1989.

The All-OAC Tournament Team was rounded out by Capital's Hilary Kuhns and Otterbein's Shea McCoy.

Mount Union, which is ranked 6th by the ESPN/USA Today and D3Hoops.com polls, now awaits word from the NCAA on the date, time, location and opponent of their next game. The bracket is scheduled to be announced on Monday at 2:30 pm.  As the top-ranked team in the Great Lakes Region, the Raiders stand a good chance of hosting the first two rounds that will take place next Friday and Saturday.

Newspaper Box Score

Ohio Northern vs Mount Union
2/25/12 3:00 p.m. at MAAC- Alliance, Ohio

At MAAC- Alliance, Ohio

MOUNT UNION 77, OHIO NORTHERN 60

OHIO NORTHERN (21-6, 14-4 OAC)
Morgan Dumbaugh 4-8 0-0 11; Kara Dysert 3-8 2-4 8; Cenzie Yoder 3-10 2-3 8;
Marissa Clark 3-4 0-0 8; Steph Hicks 2-3 2-2 6; Jordan Kimes 2-4 0-0 4;
Joanna Snyder 2-6 0-0 4; Megan Porter 1-6 0-0 3; Taylor Hermiller 1-2 0-0 3;
Katie Jones 1-1 0-0 2; Sara Kocian 1-1 0-0 2; Katie Mengos 0-3 1-2 1; Morgan
Sperry 0-0 0-0 0; Pendah Jallow 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-56 7-11 60.

MOUNT UNION (26-1, 17-1 OAC)
Kori Wiedt 5-9 1-2 16; Rosa LaMattina 6-10 0-0 14; Amanda Rose 7-10 0-2 14;
Aly Daniel 3-5 0-0 6; Erin Schmidt 2-4 2-3 6; Tierney Allen 2-2 2-3 6;
Marybeth Leitch 2-5 0-0 4; Amanda Tamerlano 2-2 0-0 4; Kelly Evans 1-4 0-0
3; Maggie Miller 1-2 0-0 3; Bridget Lyons 0-0 1-2 1; Kensie Kimble 0-0 0-0
0; Olivia Holt 0-0 0-0 0; Amanda Turner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-53 6-12 77.

Ohio Northern.................   24   36  -   60
Mount Union...................   40   37  -   77

3-point goals--Ohio Northern 7-20 (Morgan Dumbaugh 3-5; Marissa Clark 2-3;
Taylor Hermiller 1-2; Megan Porter 1-3; Jordan Kimes 0-1; Joanna Snyder 0-3;
Katie Mengos 0-2; Kara Dysert 0-1), Mount Union 9-19 (Kori Wiedt 5-6; Rosa
LaMattina 2-5; Maggie Miller 1-2; Kelly Evans 1-3; Marybeth Leitch 0-1; Erin
Schmidt 0-1; Amanda Rose 0-1). Fouled out--Ohio Northern-None, Mount
Union-None. Rebounds--Ohio Northern 28 (Katie Mengos 6), Mount Union 33
(Tierney Allen 7; Amanda Rose 7). Assists--Ohio Northern 14 (Katie Mengos
4), Mount Union 20 (Tierney Allen 5). Total fouls--Ohio Northern 10, Mount
Union 9. Technical fouls--Ohio Northern-None, Mount Union-None. A-822
Mount Union wins its thrid consecutive OAC Tournament title and will receive
the conference's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament. All-Tournament Team: MTU-Kori Wiedt (MVP), Rosa LaMattina, Amanda Rose; ONU- Kara Dysert; CAP- Hilary Kuhns; OTT- Shea McCoy.