Mackenzie Suprano's late basket lifts Women's Basketball past Capital 64-62

ADA — Sophomore Mackenzie Suprano (Cutler/Waterford) scored a career-high 19 points, including the go-ahead basket with 5.8 seconds left to lift the Ohio Northern women's basketball team to a thrilling 64-62 victory over Capital on Saturday afternoon.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (14-8 overall, 12-4 OAC), Capital (16-7 overall, 11-5 OAC)
• Venue: ONU Sports Center - Ada, Ohio

The Game

• Fifth-year senior All-American Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) scored a game-high 23 points, dished out 5 assists, grabbed 5 rebounds and had 4 steals for ONU.
• Junior Brooke Allen (Woodville/Woodmore) chipped in 11 points for Ohio Northern.
• Demi Brewer led the Comets with 23 points, tying Serbin for game-high honors.
• Serbin made two free throws with 1:07 left to give ONU a 62-56 lead.
• But the Comets got a 3-pointer from Demi Brewer with 59 seconds left and got another three from Laney Murphy with 25 seconds left to tie the game at 62-all.
• After an ONU timeout, sophomore Noelle Ruane (St. Marys) found Suprano off a backscreen for a layup with 5.8 seconds left, giving the hosts a 64-62 lead.
• The Comets called timeout to advance the ball to midcourt, then got a clean look from three by Murphy which bounced away.
• Brewer grabbed the rebound and got off a three just ahead of the buzzer, but it also missed and the Polar Bears and the victory.
• Northern out-scored Capital 22-11 in the third quarter to lead 51-35 heading into the final 10 minutes.
• CU went on a 17-4 run over the first 5:40 of the final period to pull within 55-52 with 4:20 left.
• ONU held a 4-6 point lead until Capital's back-to-back threes in the final minuet tied the game, setting up Suprano's heroics.
• Ohio Northern made 22-of-63 field goals for 34.9 percent and was 8-of-29 from beyond the arc for 27.6 percent while CU was 21-of-56 from the floor for 37.5 percent and finished 7-of-21 on 3-pointers for 33.3 percent.
• ONU made 12-of-16 free throws for 75 percent and CU was 13-of-16 from the line for 81.3 percent.
• The Polar Bears out-rebounded the Comets by a 42-33 margin.

Notables

• Serbin's 23-point game makes this her 17th game in double digits this season, including five games of 20 or more points.
• Allen's 10-point game makes this her 12th game of the season to score double digits.
• Northern is now 41-59 all-time against Capital, including a 27-19 mark in Ada.
• BW maintains its 2-game lead in the OAC Standings ahead of second-place Marietta, who is 13-3. ONU moves out of a tie with Capital into sole possession of third place at 12-4.
• ONU has clinched a top-4 seed in the OAC Tournament Feb. 20-24 and will either host a quarterfinal game on Feb. 20 or a semifinal game on Feb. 22, based on results from the final week of regular season play next week.
• Serbin is ONU's all-time leader in career steals with 284 and assists with 377.
• Serbin moved up on ONU's all-time career scoring list with 1,239 points. She ranks third all-time with 178 made 3-pointers in her career, is 11th all-time in made free throws with 217, is 13th all-time in rebounds with 554 and seventh all-time with 422 made field goals.
• Serbin is the only women's basketball player in ONU history to tally at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals in her career.
• Fourth-year head coach Mark Huelsman is now 63-29 at Ohio Northern for a winning percentage of .685.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears return to action on Wednesday when they play at Wilmington in their punultimate game of the regular season.