Women’s Basketball: Ohio Northern (13-4 Overall, 7-3 OAC) at Otterbein (13-5 Overall, 7-4 OAC)

Wednesday, February 2, 2022, 3 p.m. - Rike Center, Westerville, Ohio

Wednesday's Preview: The Polar Bears are riding a four-game win streak and received five points in this week's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll as they open their final six-game stretch of the regular season on Wednesday at Ohio Athletic Conference foe Otterbein at 3 p.m. … The start time was moved up from 7 p.m. due to the threat of a winter storm ... The teams' first scheduled matchup this season was canceled and declared a no-contest under the OAC's COVID-19 protocols … ONU is coming off Saturday's 66-54 win at Mount Union … Northern used a 15-2 run late in the third quarter to turn a 40-35 lead into a 55-37 advantage with 56 seconds left in the period en route to the victory … ONU finished with three double-figure scorers in seniors Alissa Stahler (14 points), Lexi Jacobs (14) and Jaidyn Hale (10), and junior Brynn Serbin added eight points, five assists and four steals … Sophomore Kristen Luersman was named OAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 24-30 after a two-game set highlighted by her first career double-double with career-high marks of 16 points and 15 rebounds in ONU's 59-41 home win over Wilmington ... Northern is averaging 61.6 points per game and allowing an OAC-low 47.6 points per contest … The Polar Bears are shooting 38.4% from the field, 29.2% on 3-pointers and 70.3% from the foul line … Stahler (9.6 points per game) leads ONU in scoring followed by Serbin (8.9), Luersman (7.8) and Hale (7.1) … Stahler's team-high 5.9 rebounds per game ranks eighth in the OAC, and her 19 total blocks rank fifth in the conference … Serbin leads the OAC in steals (44) and ranks second in assists (55) … Serbin's 118 career steals is tied with Alyssa Rickert ('01-'04) for 17th on the program's all-time leaderboard, and her 140 career assists are 33 shy of cracking the top 20 on the program's all-time leaderboard in that category … Knippen leads the OAC in shooting 50.0% (17-of-34) from 3-point range … Following Wednesday's game, ONU will host OAC foe Capital on Saturday at 2 p.m. as part of a women's-men's doubleheader … Otterbein enters Wednesday's game coming off Saturday's 73-63 win at Muskingum … Bryn Mangold (17 points) and Katie McCrary (16) led OU in scoring while Kathleen DeCarlo added an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double in the victory … Otterbein is averaging 65.1 points per game and allowing 57.9 points per contest … The Cardinals are shooting 41.3% from the floor, 27.0% on 3-pointers and 67.3% from the foul line … McCrary (13.5 points per game), Angelia Jackson (8.1) and DeCarlo (7.8) lead the team in scoring … McCrary ranks fourth in the OAC in scoring average … McCrary leads the OAC in assists (60) and ranks second in the conference in steals (43) … DeCarlo's 6.1 rebounds per game ranks seventh in the OAC … Mangold ranks second in the OAC in blocks (32) … Jackson has made a team-high 34 3-pointers on 33.0% shooting from beyond the arc.

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series with Otterbein by a 55-35 margin, including a 23-19 mark on the road … The teams last met in March 2021 in the OAC Tournament quarterfinals where ONU got a 61-44 road win … The teams' matchup earlier this season was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols.

Head Coach Mark Huelsman: Huelsman is in his second season at ONU and has an overall record of 20-12, a winning percentage of .625.