Brooke Allen’s career-high 18 points leads Women’s Basketball to 57-52 win over Wilmington

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — Sophomore Brooke Allen (Woodville/Woodmore) recorded career-highs of 18 points and seven rebounds to lead the Ohio Northern women's basketball team to a 57-52 win over Wilmington on Wednesday night at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears improve to 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference while dropping the Quakers to 5-3, 0-2.

Senior Kasey Knippen (Ottoville) made a career-high four 3-pointers and joined Allen in double figures with a career-high 14 points to go with six rebounds.

Senior Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) chipped in nine points, eight rebounds and five assists, and junior Kristen Luersman (Fort Jennings) finished with eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Jada Pohlen came off the bench and led Wilmington with 15 points. Kennedy Lewis added 12 points for the Quakers.

The Polar Bears jumped out to an 11-5 lead to start the game aided by 3-pointers from Knippen and Serbin. The Quakers responded with a 7-0 run to take a one-point lead and entered the second quarter up 15-13.

Luersman tied the score at 17-all with 7:11 left in the second quarter, spurring a 14-0 ONU run capped by a layup from Allen with 2:23 remaining. That stretch also included a 3-pointer from sophomore Jada Benjamin (Parma/Valley Forge).

Trailing 29-17, the Quakers ended the second quarter on a 7-0 run to cut the halftime deficit to five, 29-24.

Sophomore Abi Akamine (Lahaina, Hawaii/Lahainaluna) and Knippen connected on 3-pointers early in the third quarter to extend ONU's lead to nine, 37-28.

The Polar Bear advantage grew to as many as 12 points, but WC was able to get back to within six, 42-36, going into the fourth quarter.

Knippen opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer, and her second triple of the period put ONU up 49-41 with 6:03 to play. A layup from Allen extended the edge to 10, and the Polar Bears held on for the five-point victory.

Ohio Northern made 20-of-55 field goals for 36.4% and was 7-of-25 from 3-point range for 28%, while WC made 18-of-60 field goals for 30% and was 7-of-29 from beyond the arc for 24.1%.

ONU was 10-of-15 from the free-throw line for 66.7%, and Wilmington was 9-of-16 for 56.3%.

The Polar Bears out-rebounded the Quakers by a 43-37 margin.

Northern returns to action on Saturday at Ohio Athletic Conference foe Mount Union at 4 p.m.