No. 14 Women’s Basketball drops first conference game, 68-61 at Marietta

By Wes Mayberry

MARIETTA — Despite a late rally, the 14th-ranked Ohio Northern women's basketball team dropped its first Ohio Athletic Conference game of the season Saturday afternoon, falling 68-61 to Marietta at Ban Johnson Arena.

The loss ended the Polar Bears' 12-game win streak and dropped them to 15-2 overall and 9-1 in the OAC while improving the Pioneers to 12-5, 7-3.

Northern and No. 12 Baldwin Wallace are now tied atop the OAC standings.

Sophomore Brooke Allen (Woodville/Woodmore) led ONU with 16 points to go with five rebounds.

Junior Kristen Luersman (Fort Jennings) finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, and senior Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) added 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Devin Hefner led the Pioneers with 18 points, while Erin Hahn added a game-high 16 rebounds to go with seven points.

The Polar Bears got out to a hot start, jumping out to a 12-0 lead with 4:44 left in the first quarter. Allen and Serbin were responsible for the run, scoring six points each.

The Pioneers got on the scoreboard with a 3-pointer from Adi Hill with 3:32 left in the period and fought back to within five, 17-12, going into the second quarter.

A triple from Paige Tolson cut the ONU lead to one, 17-16, early in the second quarter, and MC later took a 20-19 edge on an Olivia Gribble jumper.

Freshman Mackenzie Suprano (Cutler/Waterford) answered right back with a 3-pointer for ONU, and the teams battled to a 27-all tie score at halftime.

The Pioneers opened the second half with a jumper from Hefner and continued to extend their lead, making it 48-34 on a triple from Hill with 1:47 left.

MC took a 48-37 edge into the fourth quarter and added to it with a 3-pointer from Tolson and a layup from Hefner.

But the Polar Bears responded with a 21-9 run capped by a pair of free throws from Luersman to get Northern within four, 62-58, with 1:37 left. Luersman had 10 total points during that spurt.

A 3-pointer from Serbin made it a three-point game, 64-61, with 52 seconds remaining, and the Polar Bear defense forced a missed 3-point shot from Hannah Schill but was unable to secure the rebound.

Hefner made a pair of free throws off the offensive rebound by Hahn, and a missed 3-point shot from Luersman with nine seconds remaining sealed the win for MC.

Ohio Northern made 20-of-59 field goals for 33.9% and was 5-of-22 from 3-point range for 22.7%, while Marietta made 25-of-62 field goals for 40.3% and was 7-of-19 from beyond the arc for 36.8%.

ONU was 16-of-19 from the free-throw line for 84.2%, and MC was 11-of-16 for 68.8%.

Marietta out-rebounded Northern by a 45-37 margin and had 36 bench points to ONU's 11.

The Polar Bears return to action on Wednesday at OAC foe Wilmington at 7 p.m.