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COLUMBUS – The Capital University women's basketball team was victorious for the sixth time in its last seven games Monday, knocking off Wisconsin-Eau Claire 62-54 in a non-conference affair at the Capital Center.

The Crusaders (9-3 overall), who have not lost in the Capital Center since Jan. 28, 2012, used a pair of second-half spurts to pull away after leading by just one point at halftime.

Capital held the Blugolds (7-6), who played their third game in four days in the Columbus area, to 38.6 percent shooting and just a 4-for-19 clip (21.1 percent) from 3-point range.

"We were out of sync, and we really felt like we haven't played a lot, and it was Eau Claire's third game in four days," Capital coach Dixie Jeffers said. "We just never got into any kind of flow, which is a credit to what Eau Claire was doing to us. It was a good basketball game to get us ready for the league on Saturday."

Junior guard Cookie Geroski (Fostoria, Ohio; above) led the Crusaders with game-highs of 18 points and eight rebounds. Senior forward Stacy Timmerman (New Bremen, Ohio) continued her steady play with 16 points and six boards.

Junior forward Jamie Caton (Hilliard, Ohio) added 11 points, three blocks and five steals.

After Capital opened the affair with three 3-pointers to take a 9-2 lead, both teams struggled in the middle stretch of the half until the last five minutes, when the scoring picked up. The Crusaders headed into the locker room with a 27-26 advantage.

In the second, Capital stretched their lead to 38-31 at the 11:40 mark after a 3-pointer by Geroski, who hit four in the contest. Eau Claire narrowed its deficit to four with 9:12 to play, but the Crusaders quickly pushed the lead up to 52-41 with just over five minutes on the clock.

Capital knocked down 8-of-9 free throws in the second half and hit a season-high seven 3-pointers in the contest. The Crusaders also out-rebounded the Blugolds, who list three players at 6-foot-2 on their roster, by a 37-36 margin.

"When we got the spacing, and we started cutting and executing, we got great looks," Jeffers said. "I thought we played quick and fast, and we were able to win. I'm really surprised we out-rebounded them."

After concluding the non-conference stanza with a 5-2 record, Capital resumes Ohio Athletic Conference play for the rest of the year this Saturday against cross-town rival Otterbein. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m., or approximately 30 minutes following the men's game, which begins at 2.