Women’s Basketball: Otterbein (8-3 Overall, 2-2 OAC) at Ohio Northern (9-2 Overall, 3-1 OAC)
Wednesday, January 5, 2022, 7 p.m. - ONU Sports Center, Ada, Ohio
Wednesday's Preview: The Polar Bears return to Ohio Athletic Conference play on Wednesday hosting Otterbein after a two-game stint in the Bluffton Holiday Tournament … Northern went 2-0 in the tournament with a 56-26 win over St. Mary's (Ind.) on Wednesday and a 101-30 victory over Geneva (Pa.) on Thursday to extend its current win streak to 5 games … The win over Geneva marked the first time the Polar Bears scored 100-plus points since a 103-50 win at Baldwin Wallace in the 1987-88 season … Against Geneva, junior Brynn Serbin tallied career highs of 18 points and 7 assists, while senior Alissa Stahler posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds … ONU is averaging 65.5 points per game and allowing an OAC-low 46.3 points per contest … The Polar Bears are shooting 39.7% from the field, 28.3% on 3-pointers and 69.5% from the foul line … Northern currently has 5 players averaging between 6 and 11 points per game in what is a balanced offensive attack … Stahler (10.2 points per game) leads ONU in scoring followed by Serbin (8.9) and sophomore Kristen Luersman (7.8) … Stahler ranks 10th in the OAC in scoring average, and her 6.8 rebounds per game rank sixth in the conference … Serbin's 34 steals on the season lead the OAC, and her 37 assists rank second in the conference … Serbin's 108 career steals rank 19th on the program's all-time leaderboard in a tie with Annette Alverson ('83-'86) … Sophomore Kasey Knippen has made a team-high 10 3-pointers, and her 3-point percentage of 50.0 ranks second in the OAC … Following Wednesday's game, ONU will host No. 12 John Carroll on Saturday at 2 p.m. as part of a women's-men's doubleheader … Otterbein is coming off Thursday's 67-55 win over Albion (Mich.) to win its Smokey Ballenger Classic tournament … Sophomore Claire Radabaugh was named MVP of the event after scoring a career-high 18 points against Albion and shooting nearly 60% across the two games … OU is averaging 68.1 points per game while allowing 59.1 points per contest … The Cardinals are shooting 41.6% from the floor, 25.3% on 3-pointers and 67.5% from the foul line … Sophomore Katie McCrary (13.4 points per game) and graduate student Angelia Jackson (8.5) lead OU in scoring … Senior Jenna Hoschouer leads the team in rebounding with 5.9 per game … McCrary and Hoschouer lead the team in assists with 34 each, and McCrary has a team-high 25 steals … Jackson has made a team-high 24 3-pointers on 40% shooting from beyond the arc.
ONU Statistical Leaders:
| Scoring | Rebounding | 3FGs | Assists | Steals | ||||||||||||||
| 1. | Stahler | 10.2 | 1. | Stahler | 6.8 | 1. | Knippen | 10 | 1. | Serbin | 37 | 1. | Serbin | 34 | ||||
| 2. | Serbin | 8.9 | 2. | Serbin | 4.7 | 2. | Iliff | 9 | 2. | Hale | 18 | 2. | Hale | 9 | ||||
| 3. | Luersman | 7.8 | Luersman | 4.7 | Serbin | 9 | 3. | Palecek | 16 | Iliff | 9 |
All-Time Series: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series with Otterbein by a 55-35 margin, including a 32-16 mark at home … The teams have split the last 10 meetings, winning five games apiece … The teams last met in March 2021 in the OAC Tournament quarterfinals where ONU got a 61-44 road win.
Head Coach Mark Huelsman: Huelsman is in his second season at ONU and has an overall record of 16-10, a winning percentage of .615.
