Women’s Basketball remains perfect with 72-64 victory at Wilmington 

By Bud Denega 

WILMINGTON — The Ohio Northern women's basketball team slowed down the high-scoring Wilmington Quakers Wednesday night en route to a 72-64 victory. The win improves the Polar Bears to 6-0 on the season and 2-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, while the loss drops the Quakers to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in conference. 

Wilmington entered Wednesday's game averaging north of 87 points per game, and ONU held the Quakers to a season-low point output. Wilmington hit 40 percent (22 of 55) of its field-goal attempts and 29.2 percent (7 of 24) of its shots from 3-point land.

Northern, on the other hand, shot 41.4 percent (24 of 58) from the field and 34.8 percent (8 of 23) from deep. The Polar Bears made 61.5 percent (16 of 26) from the free-throw line, while the Quakers connected on just 54.2 percent (13 of 24) from the charity stripe.

ONU enjoyed a decided 50-25 advantage on the glass, which included an 18-7 edge in offensive rebounding.  

Senior Jaclyn Yankle (Youngstown/Cardinal Mooney) led a balanced scoring attack for ONU. She poured in 15 points and corralled four rebounds. 

Fellow senior Abby Weeks (West Chester/Mount Notre Dame) added 14 points and five rebounds. Freshman Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) stuffed the stat sheet with a career-high 11 points, six boards and three assists, while senior Emily Mescher (Maria Stein/Marion Local) logged a double-double, consisting of 10 points and 10 rebounds to go alongside a team-high four assists. 

McKayla and Hannah Binkley paced the Quakers with 14 points apiece. 

ONU took control early, jumping out to a 19-13 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Polar Bears extend their cushion to 37-28 at halftime before owning a 55-45 advantage ahead of the fourth period. 

The Polar Bears have now won 13 in a row over Wilmington. 

Northern remains on the road, traveling to Capital for a 3 p.m. contest Saturday.