By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Toledo, Ohio---Ariel Bethea (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.) poured in a career-high 22 points off the bench to lead the No. 3 Owens Community College women's basketball team to an 86-55 win over Muskegon Community College in the Student Health and Activities Center today.

Game Summary

Owens opened the game on a 4-0 run behind a layup from Jeryn Reese (Mansfield/Mansfield, Ohio), along with a steal and a layup from Brenda Pennington (Bishop Noll/Hammond, Ind.). Muskegon answered with a 5-0 run to take its first and only lead of the game.

Kaylah Ivey (Westerville South/Westerville, Ohio) and Bethea scored on back-to-back possessions to give Owens a three-point lead. Bethea added a 3-pointer three possessions later to spur a 7-0 run that gave her team an 18-10 lead with 1:32 left in the quarter.

Muskegon's Camaryia Williams ended the run with a 3-pointer, but Pennington hit a layup with a minute left to give Owens a seven-point lead through one.

Owens then scored the first seven and 12 of the first 14 points in the second quarter. Sybil Roseboro (Elyria/Elyria, Ohio) hit back-to-back jumpers early in the run, and then Haili Mossing (Evergreen/Metamora, Ohio) closed it with a pair of free throws and a jumper that gave Owens a 32-15 lead with 3:25 left in the half.

Muskegon ended the run with a jumper of their own, but Courizma Williams (Hughes/Cincinnati, Ohio) buried back-to-back 3-pointers to give Owens a 38-17 lead. Down 18, Muskegon had a chance for the final possession of the half, but an errant inbounds pass led to four more points for Owens before the half ended.

Olivia Frost (North Baltimore/North Baltimore, Ohio) opened the second half with a layup and then a 3-pointer to push the Owens lead to 27. Muskegon trimmed its deficit to 23, but a layup by Bethea following a tipped pass steal from Williams pushed it back up to 27 with 3:47 left in the third quarter.

Ultimately, Owens took a 26 point lead into the fourth quarter following a jumper and a layup from Pennington in the final two minutes.

A pair of free throws from Ivey gave Owens its first 30-point lead with 6:14 left in the fourth. A layup from Kamryn Troike (St. Wendelin/Fostoria, Ohio) and a 3-pointer from Essence Cowan (Lima Senior/Lima, Ohio) gave Owens two more 30-point leads. A layup from Mossing, once again, pushed the lead to 30 before Cowan buried another 3-pointer to put Owens up 78-47 with 3:20 left.

Bethea hit a jumper and then found Ivey for a layup in the final minute to give Owens its largest lead of the game at 34.

Leaders

Bethea produced her career-high in scoring on 10-for-13 shooting, including a 1-for-1 finish from 3-point range. She added six rebounds, three steals and two assists. She is now averaging 16 points over the past four games, and she has shot over 50 percent from the field in each of those four games.

Pennington was the second and final Owens player to score in double figures. She totaled 12 points and four rebounds on 6-for-9 shooting. Ivey chipped in nine points, followed by eight apiece from Mossing and Cowan, who had her streak of double digit scoring games to open her collegiate career snapped at seven.

Reese, who didn't score following the game's opening basket, still produced game-highs in rebounds (13), assists (5) and blocks (3), although Troike tied her for the high in blocks.

Owens finished 34-for-69 (49.3 percent) from the field, including a 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) finish from 3-point range. They also went 12-for-16 from the foul line and out-rebounded Muskegon 47-31.

Owens also held advantages in paint points (52-22), points off turnovers (25-9), second chance points (15-9) and bench points (55-13).

Kalisa Williams and Camaryia Williams led Muskegon with 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Camaryia Williams had a game-high six steals.

Next Up

With the victory, Owens is now 8-0 and pushed its regular season winning streak to 22 dating back to last season. They have now outscored their opponents by a total of 367 points this year, which equates to a 46 point average margin of victory. They will be back in action Dec. 14 against Cuyahoga Community College in the SHAC at 5:30 p.m.

Muskegon fell to 4-2 with the loss.