Allen, Luersman lead Women's Basketball in tight 64-60 loss at No. 7 Baldwin Wallace in championship game of OAC Tournament

ADA — The Ohio Northern women's basketball team rallied from a 46-35 third quarter deficit, but No. 7-ranked Baldwin Wallace held off the charge to claim the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament title with a 64-60 victory in the championship game on Saturday afternoon.

| OAC Tournament site |

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (19-8 Overall), #1 Baldwin Wallace (26-1 Overall).
• Venue: Ursprung Gymnasium - Berea, Ohio.

The Game

• Senior Brooke Allen (Woodville/Woodmore) scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds and fifth-year senior Kristen Luersman (Fort Jennings) scored 12 points and had nine rebounds to go with four assists to lead ONU.
• Sophomore Chloee Glenn (Glandorf/Ottawa-Glandorf) chipped in 11 points and six rebounds.
• The Yellow Jackets were led by Kaycie Badalak with 16 points.
• BW led 46-35 with 3:6 left in the third quarter when the Polar Bears went on a furious rally.
• Junior Mackenzie Suprano (Cutler/Waterford) started the rally with a 3-pointer at the 2:55 mark of the third and Allen followed with a layup and it was 46-40 with 2:10 remaining in the quarter.
• Senior Abby Dickson (Germantown/Valley View) scored to get ONU within 49-42 heading into the fourth quarter.
• ONU scored the first eight points of the fourth period, as senior Abi Akamine (Lahaina, Hawaii/Lahainaluna) got a basket, 
• Suprano scored two baskets and Allen converted inside to cap the 10-0 run and put the Polar Bears on top 50-49 with 7:14 left.
• Glenn made one of two free throws to extend ONU's lead to 53-51 with 3:24 remaining.
• But the Yellow Jackets would hit three-pointers on three of their next four possessions to regain a 60-55 lead with 1:01 left.
• Allen would score five points in the final minute, but BW would make four free throws to hang on for the win.
• Ohio Northern made 24-of-60 field goals for 40.0 percent and was 2-of-14 from beyond the arc for 14.3 percent, while Baldwin Wallace was 21-of-50 from the floor for 42.0 percent and finished 10-of-19 on 3-pointers for 52.6 percent.
• The Polar Bears made 10-of-16 free throws for 62.5 percent and the Yellow Jackets were 12-of-20 from the line for 60.0 percent.
• ONU out-rebounded BWU 42-27.

Notables

• Allen and Luersman were named to the All-OAC Tournament Team.
• ONU was the No. 2 seed, Baldwin Wallace was the No. 1 seed.
• Baldwin Wallace earns the OAC's automatic bid to the NCAA III Tournament. 
• Ohio Northern is ranked No. 48 nationally and will have to wait to see if they receive an at-large bid to the tournament.
• Ohio Northern was making its third consecutive OAC Tournament Finals appearance.
• ONU had won the past two OAC Tournament titles and has 7 OAC Tournament championships in program history.
• The Polar Bears advanced to the finals with a 55-41 victory over No. 6 Otterbein on Thursday night.
• Northern clinched a first round bye in the 6-team OAC Tournament as the No. 2 seed by finishing second in the OAC Regular Season standings with a 14-4 record.
• Baldwin Wallace is now 50-41 all-time against Ohio Northern, including a 31-16 mark in Berea. The teams are tied at 4-4 in OAC Tournament play.
• Allen ends her career ranked 18th all-time in ONU history with 998 points and is 15th all-time with 545 rebounds in 106 games
• Luersman is now 7th in ONU history with 673 career rebounds. She also scored 851 points in 103 career games.
• This is the 53rd season of Ohio Northern women's basketball. The Polar Bears are now 778-516 all-time in program history for a winning percentage of .601.
• Fifth-year head coach Mark Huelsman is now 87-39 at Ohio Northern, a winning percentage of .690.

Up Next

• TBA.