Senior Amy Bullimore becomes Ohio Northern's all-time leading scorer as No. 10-ranked Women's Basketball defeats Heidelberg 67-44

By Caleb Scott

TIFFIN — Senior Amy Bullimore (Morrow/Little Miami) became Ohio Northern's all-time leading scorer on Wednesday evening with a game-high 16 points as the No. 10-ranked Ohio Northern women's basketball team downed Heidelberg 67-44 at Seiberling Gymnasium.

The Polar Bears extend their winning streak to 15 games and improve to 15-1 on the season and move to a perfect 9-0 through the first half of the double round-robin OAC schedule, while the Student Princes drop to 4-12, 2-7.

Bullimore became ONU's all-time leading scorer at the 6:10 mark of the third quarter sinking her second of two free throws.

The senior tied the all-time record on the previous possession after sinking 1-of-2 free throws.

Her 1,255 career points surpass former Polar Bear standout Morgan (Dumbaugh) Bass's former record of 1,242 points for most in school history. 

The senior also climbed within 24 rebounds of becoming ONU's all-time rebounder.

"I didn't really try to think to much about breaking the record," said the All-American center. "I got in a little foul trouble early and I started to worry that maybe I wouldn't get it, but I'm just glad I got and now I can just focus on finishing this season on a strong note with my team."

Sophomore Emily Mescher (Maria Stein/Marion Local) scored 12 points for Northern, while pulling down a game-best nine rebounds.

Heidelberg took control of the contest early on jumping out to a commanding 16-6 lead just over four minutes into the contest.

ONU would use a 7-2 run from there to close out the quarter and pull within 18-13 after one period.

After a layup from junior Tori Wyss (Ada) to open the second quarter cut the gap to 18-15 back-to-back 3-pointers from HU's Maddie Overmyer pushed the Student Prince lead to 24-15.

The Polar Bears would chip away at the lead and a jumper from Mescher with 14 seconds left cut the deficit to 26-25 at the intermission.

The third quarter would prove to be the turning point for Ohio Northern as they outscored Heidelberg 23-10 to take a 48-36 lead into the final period of play.

With HU leading 32-27 with 7:20 left in the third quarter, Northern used a 10-2 run to take a 37-34 lead with 4:19 left in the quarter.

Junior Alyssa Manley (Lima/Bath) would drill a short corner jumper as time expired to push the ONU lead to 48-36 through three quarters.

Senior Courtney Cramer (Arcadia) opened the fourth quarter with a quick 3-pointer to extend the ONU lead.

A 7-0 run capped off by a 3-pointer from senior Alexis Kirkbride (Zanesville/Bishop Rosecrans) would give Northern a comfortable 58-39 lead with 6:04 left in the contest.

A free throw from freshman Sydney Ward (Columbus/Upper Arlington) with 51 seconds left in the contest gave ONU its biggest lead of the evening at 64-41.

Northern won the battle on the glass by a 49-34 margin.

The Polar Bears were 25-of-67 (37.3 percent) from the field, including 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) from 3-point range, while the Student Princes were 16-of-55 (29.1 percent) from the field, including 6-of-24 (25.0 percent) from 3-point range.

"You have to give Heidelberg some credit because they came out firing," said head coach Michele Durand. "They shot the ball really well early on and got Amy in foul trouble. Once we really settled in and starting shooting the ball more things got better. Amy seemed a little nervous throughout the contest, but once she hit that free throw you could tell she really settled in and started playing much better. I'm proud of our effort. We kind of expect every team in this conference to give us their best so I'm proud of how we handled it as the game went on."

Northern will return to action on Saturday afternoon as they welcome Mount Union to the ONU Sports Center for a 3 pm tipoff.