Abi Akamine scores just ahead of the buzzer to lift No. 18 Women's Basketball past No. 7 Baldwin Wallace 53-51
By Tim Glon
ADA —Sophomore Abi Akamine (Lahaina, Hawaii/Lahainaluna) scored just ahead of the buzzer to lead the No. 18-ranked Ohio Northern women's basketball team to a thrilling 53-51 victory over No. 7-ranked Baldwin Wallace on Wednesday night at the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears improve to 13-1 overall and remain on top of the Ohio Athletic Conference with a 7-0 record, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 13-1, 6-1.
Senior Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) scored a game-high 21 points and junior Kristen Luersman (Fort Jennings) added 15 points and a team-high six rebounds for ONU.
BW was led in scoring by Emily Irwin with 19 points.
Freshman Mackenzie Suprano (Cutler/Waterford) nailed a 3-pointer with 1:48 left in the game, the only triple for ONU in the contest, to give the hosts a 51-50 lead.
BW had two chances to take the lead at the line in the final seconds, but Irwin missed two free throws with 11 seconds left and Izzy Andrews made one of two to tie the game 51-all with 3.9 seconds to go.
A timeout gave the Polar Bears the ball at midcourt. Akamine then caught the inbounds pass at the top of the key, drove to her right down the lane and finished the driving layup just ahead of the final buzzer to give ONU tie victory in the battle of nationally-ranked league unbeatens.
Serbin scored five consecutive points to give ONU a 42-34 lead with 8:54 left in the fourth quarter.
BW answered with an 8-2 run to pull within 44-42 with 7:12 to go.
Irwin made two free throws to give BW a 47-46 lead at the 3:58 mark, but Luersman scored inside with 2:14 remaining to give ONU a 48-47 advantage.
Irwin nailed a three to put the Yellow Jackets back on top 50-48, only to see Suprano put the hosts up 51-50 with 1:48 left.
Ohio Northern made 20-of-42 from the floor for 47.6 percent and was 1-of-8 from 3-point range for 12.5 percent, while Baldwin Wallace made 16-of-45 field goals for 35.6 percent and was 8-of-26 from beyond the arc for 30.8 percent.
ONU was 12-of-18 from the free-throw line for 66.7 percent and BWU was 11-of-16 for 68.8 percent.
Northern out-rebounded the Yellow Jackets by a 29-25 margin.
The Polar Bears return to action on Saturday with a 4 p.m. home contest against Muskingum in the second game of the men's/women's doubleheader at the ONU Sports Center.