By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information

Toledo, Ohio---A strong third quarter allowed the No. 2 Owens Community College women's basketball team to pull out a 90-77 win over Columbus State Community College in the team's closest win of the season.

With the win, Owens is now 26-0 and 13-0 in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) play. They will host Hocking College at 3 p.m. in the SHAC tomorrow afternoon in a non-conference matchup. Columbus State fell to 10-13 overall and 6-7 in OCCAC play. 

With the game tied at halftime, Columbus State scored the first five points of the second half to open up its biggest lead of the game. From there, Owens responded with an 8-0 run that featured a pair of baskets from Ariel Bethea (Huron/Ann Arbor, Mich.). 

After Columbus State's Antishay Rahim ended the run with a layup, Owens went on a 17-2 run to open up a 62-46 lead. Six different players scored during the run, led by four points from Courizma Williams (Hughes/Cincinnati, Ohio), and Sybil Roseboro (Elyria/Elyria, Ohio) ended it with a 3-pointer to put Owens up 62-46.

In all, Owens outscored Columbus State 26-12 in the third quarter.

One minute into the fourth quarter, Jeryn Reese (Mansfield/Mansfield, Ohio) made a layup to give Owens a 67-49 lead, its largest of the game. Columbus State went on an 8-0 run, and a few minutes later, Allyse Rutter made a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to seven.

Williams, however, answered Rutter's 3-pointer with one of her own, and Bethea folowed with a jumper to give Owens a 76-64 lead with 4:09 left. Moments later, Olivia Frost (North Baltimore/North Baltimore, Ohio) made a shot in the paint, and Brenda Pennington (Bishop Noll/Hammond, Ind.) hit a layup with 2:05 left to push the lead to 16.

Despite six points in the final 40 seconds from Columbus State's Carli Codner-Pinto, Owens pulled out its 40th straight regular season win since Jan. 6 of last season. On top of that, they've also won 47 straight regular season conference games dating back to Feb. 1, 2014.

Seven players scored in double figures for Owens, led by Reese, who had 16 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, two assists and one block. Bethea also had 16 points, along with three steals and three assiss, while Williams finished with 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists. 

Essence Cowan (Lima Senior/Lima, Ohio) chipped in 11 points, while Pennington and Kaylah Ivey (Westerville South/Westerville, Ohio) each had 10 points. Ivey also finished second on the team in rebounds with eight.

Outside of Codner-Pinto's 20 points, which came on 7-for-22 shooting (2-for-13 from 3-point range), Rutter added 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Katlyn Ray had 15 points. Keyvona Davis chipped in eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

Owens, which forced 27 turnovers and scored 32 points off those, trailed 15-10 with 2:08 left in the first quarter following five straight points from Codner-Pinto. Williams sparked an 8-0 run to close the quarter by scoring five straight and then assisting on a 3-pointer from Haili Mossing (Evergreen/Metamora, Ohio).

Cowan opened the second quarter with a 3-pointer to close an 11-0 run for Owens, but Columbus State scored the game's next eight points and led 29-24 with 5:41 left in the half. Late in the half, Columbus State scored five straight to take a 37-33 lead, but Reese and Bethea hit back-to-back jump shots to tie the game heading to the half.

NOTES

Owens is now 41-5 all-time against Columbus State, including a 23-0 record at home. Head coach Mike Llanas is now 23-3 in his career against them, and Owens has won seven straight, as well as 19 of the last 20, in the series.

With her 16-point effort today, Reese now has 845 career points, which vaulted her past Ashley Tunstall (837, 2013-15) and Robin Nesper (837- 1995-97) for 10th place on the career scoring list. Next up is Stephanie Galant, who had 856 points from 1998-2000. On top of that, she now has 621 rebounds in her career, which is 43 away from breaking the program's record.

With today's win, Owens completed the season sweep of Columbus State after picking up a 104-60 win on Jan. 14.

Owens is still just one 100-point game shy of breaking the program's record for most in a season. They currently sit at nine, which is tied with last year's team.

Prior to today's outcome, the closest win Owens had this year was 21 on Jan. 28 against Cincinnati State.

Owens is now 71-1, including 22 straight wins, at home since February of 2012.  

With her seven rebounds today, Williams eclipsed 200 career rebounds. She needs one more assist for 100 in her career, and she is now 26 points away from 600 in her career. 

Owens is now just one conference win away from clinching a share of its fifth straight OCCAC championship. Two more wins, or a Cincinnati State loss, would give it to them outright.