Yellow Jackets Drop a Heartbreaker to Ohio Northern

DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Lady Jackets gave Ohio Northern all they could handle on Tuesday night, but ultimately came up short, dropping a 77-71 decision to the Polar Bears on the road. The loss ends DC's three-game winning streak and puts the Jackets at 7-5 overall on the season.

The Jackets came into the game ranked first in the HCAC in turnover margin, but were uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball in the first half, recording 14 turnovers to help the Polar Bears claim a nine-point lead at the break.

Whatever was discussed in the DC locker room during halftime seemed to make an impact, as the Jackets came out and took care of the ball in the second half and climbed right back into the game. Down by 13 points with just over nine minutes remaining, back-to-back three-pointers by Courtney Schmersal and Tasha Stucke jump-started a Yellow Jacket comeback bid as DC saw momentum swing back in its favor.

Defiance steadily chipped away at ONU's lead, but the Polar Bears continued to make shots to maintain a seven point advantage with less than three minutes remaining. At the 2:15 mark, Shavonda Price made a layup to cut the lead to five, then stole the inbounds pass and put it back in the bucket to make it a three-point game with 1:59 left on the clock.

ONU built their lead back up to five on a Brittany Bogart layup but DC's Molly Bateman, who has made a habit out of draining big shots this season, proceeded to nail a three-pointer to cut the Jacket's deficit to just two points with 30 seconds remaining. Defiance was forced to foul as the seconds ticked away and the Polar Bears made their free throws to ice the game.

Shavonda Price led all scorers with 20 points on eight-of-11 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Freshman forward Kim Comden posted a career-high eight points, including six in the second half.

The Jackets will get a short Christmas break before returning to action on Sunday, January 3, when they host nationally ranked Capital University at the Karl H. Weaner Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.