GARY, Ind. – Olivet Nazarene women's basketball improves to 8-5 overall and 6-2 in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play outlasting IU-Northwest 91-88 on the road Thursday night. Karina Smits led the way with 18 points off the bench. Smits has led the team in scoring in consecutive games after registering 23 total points last Tuesday.

The Tigers came out of the gates firing creating a ten-point lead at the end of the first quarter. ONU clamped down defensively holding the RedHawks scoreless for the first three minutes of the game. Defense led to offense as they went on a 9-0 run capped off with a layup by Kaitlyn Clark with 6:52 remaining in the period. Olivia Demothenes converted an IU-Northwest turnover into points on the offensive end of the floor extending the lead to 13 with a little over four minutes to play. Maggie Cora finished off the quarter with a bucket with 22 seconds on the clock and went into the first official break with a 23-13 lead.

IU-NW responded by outscoring ONU 30-22 in the second quarter. The RedHawks chipped away at the deficit throughout the period and brought the game to the difference of two points. After a made three-point basket from Michaela Schmidt, the RedHawks ended the half on a 5-0 run. The home team out-rebounded the Tigers 12-3 in the quarter and shot 56.3% from the floor, 60% from three, to get back into the ball game.

Halftime: Olivet Nazarene 45, IU-Northwest 43

IU-Northwest took their first lead of the game at the 8:27-minute mark of the third period with the score at 49-47. They went on to extend their lead to five points midway through the period, their largest lead of the ballgame. ONU fought back to tie the game back up via a Caroline Boehne layup with 2:30 left. Zanna Meyers drained a three for their last bucket of the quarter as both teams headed to the final quarter tied 66-66.

The fourth quarter featured five lead changes and score knotted up level twice in the first 7:36. A back-and-forth affair saw neither team build a lead greater than two possessions in the second half. Maggie Cora drained a jump shot from behind the arc at the 2:24-minute mark for the final lead change of the night to make it 83-80. ONU came up clutch at the line making nine straight free throws down the stretch. Kennedy Johnson closed out the game with the team's final four points from the charity stripe. She tallied six points of her eight points for the period in the final 1:20 of the ball game.

Game Vitals

Final: Olivet Nazarene 91, Trinity International 88

Records: Olivet Nazarene 8-5 (CCAC 6-2) | IU-Northwest 9-4 (CCAC 5-2)

Location: Savannah Center | IU-Northwest | Gary, Ind.

Quick Hits

• Five different players were in double-digits for points
• Kennedy Johnson doled out a game-high six assists
• ONU forced IU-NW to turn the ball over 31 times resulting in 24 points
• The bench contributed 33 points on the night.
• There were 9 ties and six total lead changes in the contest.
• The Tigers shot 80% from the line to the RedHawks 53.7%

The Tiger's originally assigned home game against Calumet on Sat. Dec. 18 has been postponed. They are off until Wednesday, Dec. 29 when the fly down to Phoenix, Ariz. to take part in the Firestorm Classic. Their first opponent will feature Arizona Christian at 4 p.m. CST followed by Embry-Riddle on Thursday, Dec. 30.

--ONU—

*Contact: Patrick Kaindl, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, pkaindl@olivet.edu