Ohio Northern’s Kristen Luersman (32) pulls down a rebound during a recent home game against Wilmington.
Jackelyn Johnson | The Lima News
ADA — Fort Jennings graduate and Ohio Northern junior Kristen Luersman credits team chemistry as a leading factor for success on the Polar Bear women’s basketball season.
Ohio Northern is 8-1 and 4-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference on the season. Luersman is nearly averaging a double-double. The post player is averaging 9.8 points and a 9.1 rebounds a game following Saturday’s 57-41 conference victory against Capital.
“Team chemistry is a big thing. We lost seven seniors last year, so we knew several of us needed to step up. Our incoming freshmen are doing great right off the bat. Our chemistry is a big part of it, and we just all love to compete. It’s great to go out on the court and everyone on the team wants to win and we are all ready,” Luersman said.
Last season, the Polar Bears went 17-8 and Luersman made 12 starts, averaging 6.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. Luersman and her teammates have built upon the success of a year ago.
“Before the season started, Coach Mark (Huelsman) talked to several of the upperclassmen and told us we are going to be the ones who need to step up and fill the shoes of those who we lost last year,” Luersman said.
Another key player on the Polar Bear roster is Kasey Knippen. In high school, Luersman and Knippen were rivals in the Putnam County League. Knippen, who helped lead Ottoville to a pair of trips to the Division IV state final, originally played at Urbana University. After her freshman season, Urbana made an announcement it was closing its doors and Knippen transferred to ONU. Originally, when Luersman heard the news that Knippen would be joining ONU, she didn’t know what to expect.
“Fort Jennings and Ottoville are pretty big rivals. So, obviously each team wanted to win each time. I knew she was just a great player and when I found out she was coming here (Ohio Northern), I wasn’t sure how we would get along because we competed against each other for so long but now are best friends and it’s great to be on her team instead of playing against her,” Luersman said.
Things have clicked so well on the court between the former league rivals – they’ve now become college roommates.
Luersman was named OAC women’s basketball player of the week earlier this season. This marked her second career league player of the week award.
“I just try to do whatever I can to help the team. There are so many things that everyone does on the team that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, but everyone contributes in their own way. I just try to do whatever I can to help us win,” Luersman said.
Overall, Ohio Northern has a fairly deep roster – with 16 players total. The majority of the team comes from Ohio but the squad includes some from Hawaii, Indiana and Pennsylvania.
“Our practices are always competitive. Coach Mark tells us anytime we are on the court, whether it be practice or a game, he wants us to give 100 percent. Obviously, the only way we can make each other better is to play our best defense against each other and work our butts off against each other,” Luersman said.
When asked about some of the differences between high school and college hoops, Luersman identified two.
“I think the biggest difference is just the pace of the game. With the shot clock, the game moves a lot quicker. You can’t always run your offense until you get the perfect shot. You have to take the opportunities that the defense gives you. Another difference is that everyone at this level can play. It’s not like you can just focus on shutting down the best player on a team because each team has many different players who can score big points,” Luersman said.
There are 10 teams in the Division III OAC, the third oldest athletic conference in the United States which was formed in 1902.
“We get to know the other players in the conference because we play each team twice in the year,” Luersman said. “Most of the girls are playing all four years. There is no team where you can just walk into the game and think we are going to win. Every team is there to compete, and every game is a battle for us and that’s good.”
In the latest D3hoops.com hoops pool, the Polar Bears are No. 26.
“I’m very excited to see what we can accomplish the rest of this season. Our conference is very tough, so every game is a battle, but we have a great group this year and we all love to compete.,” Luersman said.
The class valedictorian at Fort Jennings, Luersman is majoring in nursing at ONU. A big part of the degree curriculum includes clinicals every Monday at Blanchard Valley Hospital in Findlay.
“We get one or two patients that we take care of each day that we go there. Our instructor oversees everything but basically, we are their nurse for the day. It gets our feet wet a little bit in the hospital setting and prepares us for our future career,” Luersman said. “They (the coaches) always make sure our academics come first. We are not missing any clinicals or classes for practices.
Ohio Northern was a clear choice for Luersman and the location in relation to her hometown is just one of the reasons.
“I loved my team and community (at Fort Jennings). They were all so supportive. Even now so many of them will come to my games or they will text me good luck or congratulate me afterwards. It’s great to have that support through high school and have it continue here. I wanted to stay close to home so that my parents could come to my games. I’m far enough away where I’m on my own but close enough to where I can drive back home if I need something. It makes it great that different people from the community can come to,” Luersman said.
Tony Arnold wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0468.
