Three score in double figures as Women’s Basketball defeats Heidelberg

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — Seniors Alissa Stahler (Lima/Shawnee) and Jaidyn Hale (Lima/Bath) and sophomore Kristen Luersman (Fort Jennings) all scored in double figures as the Ohio Northern women's basketball team defeated Heidelberg 71-55 on Wednesday night at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears improve to 15-7 overall and 9-6 in the Ohio Athletic Conference, while the Student Princes fall to 3-20, 2-14.

Luersman finished with 12 points and six rebounds for ONU, and Stahler added 12 points and three rebounds.

Hale tallied 11 points and nine rebounds.

Junior Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) chipped in nine points, and freshman Brooke Allen (Woodville/Woodmore) finished with eight.

Sophomore Kasey Knippen (Ottoville) scored seven points and set career-highs with nine rebounds and four assists to go with two steals.

Hallie Rogers, Lily Sweeney and Elisha Carter all finished with 12 points for Heidelberg.

Rogers tallied a team-high nine rebounds for the Student Princes.

Ohio Northern led 21-18 at the end of the first quarter, but 3-pointers from Sweeney and Carter put HU up 26-23 with 7:01 left in the second.

ONU proceeded to end the quarter on a 14-2 run highlighted by six points from Hale and four from Luersman to take a 37-28 edge into halftime.

A Luersman layup put the Polar Bears up 39-28 early in the third quarter, and Northern led by double digits for much of the rest of the game.

Knippen closed the third-quarter scoring with a pair of free throws to send ONU into the fourth leading 53-39.

A 3-pointer from Rogers brought HU back within 10, 59-49, with 4:13 left, but a jumper from ONU freshman Abby Dickson (Germantown/Valley View) and a 3-pointer from Serbin extended ONU's lead back out to 15, 64-49, with 2:50 remaining.

The Polar Bears took their largest lead of 18 points, 69-51, on a layup from Allen with 1:08 left.

Ohio Northern made 27-of-62 field goals for 43.5% and was 4-of-17 from 3-point range for 23.5%, while the Student Princes made 21-of-56 field goals for 37.5% and were 7-of-24 from beyond the arc for 29.2%.

The Polar Bears made all 13 of their free-throw attempts while HU was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line.

ONU out-rebounded HU by a 42-26 margin, held a 16-2 edge in second-chance points and 36-14 advantage in points in the paint.

Northern returns to the court on Saturday at 2 p.m. hosting Ohio Athletic Conference foe Muskingum for Senior Day as part of a women's-men's doubleheader at the ONU Sports Center.