Ada, Ohio— Mount Union's women's basketball team suffered a two point loss to conference leader Ohio Northern on Wednesday.

The Purple Raiders (5-7, 1-4 OAC) were led by junior Annie Bova (Parma Heights/Beaumont) with a game-high 19 points and freshman Isabella Pecchia (North Ridgeveille/North Ridgeville) added 10 points.

The Polar Bears (9-3, 5-0 OAC) had three players in double figures including Carly Thomas and Jordan Kimes each scoring 14 points while Karissa Steffas added 12 points and nine rebounds.

The Raiders opened the game on a 6-0 run with back-to-back Bova three-pointers.

Northern answered with an 11-3 run including two threes from Thomas, to gain the 11-9 lead at the 16:32 mark.

The Polar Bears extended the lead to six, their largest of the first half, after an 8-3 made the score 29-23 at the 6:17 mark.

Mount Union fought back with a 10-5 run fueled by senior Nancy Osborne (North Canton/GlenOak) who scored five of the 10 points with a jumper followed by a deep three to bring the Raiders within one with three minutes remaining in the first half.

Kimes hit a jumper before heading into the break with Ohio Northern holding a 36-33 lead.

Ohio Northern opened the second half with a 9-4 run gaining a 45-37 lead, their largest of the game.

The Purple Raiders battled back with an 11-4 run including a fast break layup and three-pointer for Bova to bring Mount within one—51-50 with 11 minutes remaining.

Both teams traded baskets for the next six minutes before another Bova three-point bucket tied the game—57-57—with 3:37 remaining.

Thomas hit a jumper for Northern and then committed a foul giving Katie Reed (Alliance/Marlington) a trip to the free throw line where she hit both, tying the game again –59-59 with a minute left.

A Mount Union foul sent Ohio Northern to the line for two shots leading to the eventual 61-59 victory over the Raiders.

Mount Union remains on the road as they travel to Wilmington on Saturday Jan. 10 for a 3 pm OAC game.

Newspaper Box Score
Mount Union vs Ohio Northern women
1/7/2015 7:30 pm at ONU Sports Center
At ONU Sports Center
OHIO NORTHERN WOMEN 61, MOUNT UNION 59
MOUNT UNION (5-7, 1-4)
Annie Bova 6-11 3-4 19; Isabella Pecchia 4-10 2-3 10; Katie Reed 2-5 2-2 7;
Paiten Strother 2-4 0-0 6; Nancy Osborne 2-4 0-0 5; Sarah Grippi 1-2 1-2 3;
Chandler Moore 1-4 0-0 3; Jasmine Bonivel 1-4 0-0 2; Colleen Kennehan 1-1
0-0 2; Halle Rubino 1-1 0-0 2; Abby Wemhoff 0-1 0-0 0; Corie Inverso 0-0 0-0
0; Kelsey Scott 0-0 0-0 0; Shayna Panchik 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-48 8-11 59.
OHIO NORTHERN WOMEN (9-3, 5-0)
Carly Thomas 5-8 0-0 14; Jordan Kimes 7-12 0-0 14; Karissa Steffas 2-9 7-9
12; Amy Bullimore 4-5 0-0 8; Angela Tesny 1-2 3-6 5; Brooke Espenschied 1-5
2-5 4; Britt Lauck 1-3 0-0 2; Lindsay Black 1-4 0-1 2; Kerri Beedy 0-0 0-0
0; Precious Ramsey 0-0 0-2 0; Kaitlyn Theisen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-48 12-23
61.
Mount Union...................   33   26  -   59
Ohio Northern women...........   36   25  -   61
3-point goals--Mount Union 9-21 (Annie Bova 4-7; Paiten Strother 2-4; Nancy
Osborne 1-2; Katie Reed 1-3; Chandler Moore 1-3; Shayna Panchik 0-1; Jasmine
Bonivel 0-1), Ohio Northern women 5-12 (Carly Thomas 4-4; Karissa Steffas
1-3; Angela Tesny 0-1; Brooke Espenschied 0-1; Britt Lauck 0-1; Lindsay
Black 0-1; Jordan Kimes 0-1). Fouled out--Mount Union-None, Ohio Northern
women-None. Rebounds--Mount Union 30 (Sarah Grippi 7), Ohio Northern women
32 (Karissa Steffas 9). Assists--Mount Union 12 (Colleen Kennehan 3), Ohio
Northern women 16 (Brooke Espenschied 4; Carly Thomas 4). Total fouls--Mount
Union 21, Ohio Northern women 14. Technical fouls--Mount Union-TEAM, Ohio
Northern women-None. A-212