ALLIANCE, Ohio- The No. 2 seeded Mount Union women's basketball team defeated the No. 3 seed Capital, 81-72, in the semifinals of the Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament at the McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex

The Purple Raiders (19-7) advance to the championship game which they will host against No. 4 seed Baldwin Wallace – a 65-58 winner over top seeded Ohio Northern — Saturday, Feb. 27 at 3:00 p.m. in Alliance.

Annie Bova (Parma Heights/Beaumont) led the Raiders with a game-high of 23 points. The other three players in double figures were Bella Pecchia (North Ridgeville/North Ridgeville) and Rachel Tinkey (Canfield/Canfield) adding 12 and Katie Reed (Alliance/Marlington) adding 10.

Capital (20-6) was led by Simonne Gage with 19 points and also added five steals.

In the first quarter, Mount Union ran out to a 6-2 run with 7:30 remaining. The Crusaders tied the Raiders five times but only took the lead once in the period. Two back to back Tinkey three-pointers with less than a minute left kept the Raiders in the lead, 21-17, going into the second quarter.

The Raiders sustained its lead in the early stages of the second quarter and gained its biggest lead of the game of 10, 31-21, with 5:51 remaining in the period off a three-point play by Tinkey. A 9-1 run from Capital brought them back to take a 33-32 lead with 3:25 remaining. The Raiders would respond with a jumper from Pecchia and a three-pointer from Reed leading 37-33 with two minutes remaining. Mount Union would go into halftime up 39-38.

The Crusaders would regain their lead, 42-39, early in the third quarter but a 7-0 run put the Raiders back up by six points, 48-42. Three lead changes and two ties in the last four minutes of the period would result in a tie, 57-57, at the end of the quarter.  

A 4-1 run from Capital in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter would result in a 61-58 lead over Mount Union. A consecutive five point streak from Bova would spark a 9-1 run to put Mount Union back up 67-62 with 4:52 left to go. The Raiders would keep their lead the rest of the way in their 81-72 defeat against Capital.

Newspaper Box Score
Capital vs Mount Union
2/25/16 7:30 p.m. at Alliance, Ohio- The MAAC
At Alliance, Ohio- The MAAC
MOUNT UNION 81, CAPITAL 72
CAPITAL (20-6, 12-6 OAC)
Simonne Gage 7-10 5-8 19; Kristen Thompson 6-18 2-2 14; Jenna Erwin 5-18 1-2
13; Annika Wachtman 3-4 2-2 8; Nina Napolitano 3-9 1-2 7; Chelsea Pla 2-2
2-2 6; Shelby Sigman 2-3 1-2 5; Erin Risner 0-0 0-0 0; Meredith Ovies 0-0
0-0 0; Sarah Juncker 0-0 0-0 0; Colleen Fondessy 0-1 0-0 0; Emily Moran 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 28-65 14-20 72.
MOUNT UNION (19-7, 12-7 OAC)
Annie Bova 7-14 7-10 23; Rachel Tinkey 4-9 0-0 12; Bella Pecchia 5-10 2-3
12; Katie Reed 2-8 4-6 10; Sarah Grippi 3-3 3-4 9; Shayna Panchik 1-1 2-2 5;
Jaime Sanborn 2-2 0-0 4; Kelsey Scott 1-3 1-2 3; Abby Wemhoff 1-3 0-0 3;
Renee DeFord 0-0 0-0 0; Erin White 0-0 0-0 0; Abbey Bartoszewicz 0-2 0-0 0;
Casey Morrissette 0-2 0-0 0; Cassi Bowen 0-0 0-0 0; Anna Alkire 0-0 0-0 0;
Colleen Kennehan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-57 19-27 81.
Capital.......................   17   21   19   15  -   72
Mount Union...................   21   18   18   24  -   81
3-point goals--Capital 2-10 (Jenna Erwin 2-7; Annika Wachtman 0-1; Nina
Napolitano 0-1; Shelby Sigman 0-1), Mount Union 10-28 (Rachel Tinkey 4-9;
Annie Bova 2-8; Katie Reed 2-5; Shayna Panchik 1-1; Abby Wemhoff 1-2; Abbey
Bartoszewicz 0-2; Kelsey Scott 0-1). Fouled out--Capital-None, Mount
Union-None. Rebounds--Capital 38 (Kristen Thompson 12), Mount Union 37 (Abby
Wemhoff 7). Assists--Capital 6 (Simonne Gage 2; Nina Napolitano 2), Mount
Union 16 (Abby Wemhoff 6). Total fouls--Capital 21, Mount Union 19.
Technical fouls--Capital-None, Mount Union-None. A-273