Balanced scoring effort leads Women’s Basketball past Ohio Wesleyan

By Wes Mayberry

DELAWARE — Seven Polar Bears scored between seven and nine points Tuesday afternoon as the Ohio Northern women's basketball team got a 67-51 win over Ohio Wesleyan at Branch Rickey Arena.

The Polar Bears improve to 4-0 overall while the Battling Bishops fall to 3-2 overall.

Senior Kate Iliff (Lorian/Steele) and sophomores Kristen Luersman (Fort Jennings) and Kasey Knippen (Ottoville) led the way for ONU with nine points each.

Senior Alissa Stahler (Lima/Shawnee) added eight points while seniors Jaidyn Hale (Lima/Bath) and Lexi Jacobs (Wapakoneta) and junior Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) finished with seven points each.

Stahler added a team-high five rebounds while Serbin had three assists and three steals.

Cierra Joiner (14 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) and Lauren Denison (13 points, 5 rebounds) led the way for the Bishops.

Things were tight early on in Tuesday's game, as a 3-pointer from Knippen with 24 seconds left in the first quarter sent ONU into the second period with a 12-9 lead.

OWU took a 21-20 lead on a jumper from Denison with 2:11 left in the second quarter, but the Polar Bears ended the period on a 10-2 run to go into halftime up 30-23.

That run was fueled by four points from Iliff and 3-pointers from Knippen and Serbin.

Iliff opened the second-half scoring with a 3-pointer to put ONU up by double digits.

The Polar Bears' lead grew to as many as 18 points on a pair of occasions in the third quarter, which ended with ONU up 48-32.

An and-1 from Luersman put the Polar Bears up by 25, 61-36, with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter en route to the 16-point victory.

Ohio Northern made 23-of-52 field goals for 44.2% and was 6-of-16 from 3-point range for 37.5%, while the Bishops made 20-of-55 field goals for 36.4% and were 6-of-23 from beyond the arc for 26.1%.

The Polar Bears were 15-of-17 from the free-throw line for 88.2% while OWU was 5-of-6 for 83.8%.

ONU out-rebounded OWU 37-28 and scored 23 points off 17 Bishop turnovers.

The Polar Bears return to action on Saturday at 3 p.m. for a home game against Trine (Ind.).