Faced with the possibility of its first three-game losing streak of the season, the Wilmington College women's basketball team travels to one of the hottest teams in the country. Ohio Northern, ranked eight by d3hoops.com, comes into the game on a 13-game winning streak. Not only are they winning games, ONU is doing it convincingly.
No OAC team has come within less than 11 points, and other than their loss, only Denison has played them to within single digits. ONU fell at #7 Wash U, 63-60. Wilmington is 0-3 against ranked teams this year.
"They have beaten everyone they have played in the OAC handily," said head coach Jerry Scheve. "We have a big challenge ahead of us. They are quality players that have been playing together for a long time. They are playing with a lot of confidence right now."
The Polar Bears are an experienced bunch that starts three seniors and two seniors. Junior center Cenzie Yoder leads a trio of double-figure scorers with 15.1 points. Seniors Joanna Snyder and Morgan Dumbaugh are added 13.3 and 11.7 points per game, respectively.
Scheve believes that Yoder is the best passing post player in the league.
"She can score in the post one-on-one, and can pass out of double teams," said Scheve.
The game features the top two rebounding teams in the OAC as Wilmington leads the league with a rebounding margin of plus-7.1, while the Polar Bears are second at plus-6.5. The teams hit the glass a tad differently as the Lady Quakers are first in offensive rebounding and fourth in defensive rebounding, while ONU is first in defensive rebounding and fifth in offensive rebounding.
The offensive rebounding numbers can be a little skewed as ONU leads the league in shooting, making 46 percent of their shots. Wilmington is tenth, converting 35 percent from the field.
Wilmington has now lost two in a row on three different occasions this season, and winning streaks of five and three games, respectively, followed the previous two.
Senior Brianna Peters (Alexandria, KY/Campbell County) leads the team with 10.2 points and is second with 5.8 boards. Sophomore Spencer Robles (Clyde, OH/Clyde) is chipping in with 9.1 points, while shooting 41 percent from beyond the arc.