Women’s Basketball: #20 Ohio Northern (10-1 Overall, 4-0 OAC) at Otterbein (6-5 Overall, 2-2 OAC)

Wednesday, January 4, 2023, 7 p.m. - Rike Center, Westerville, Ohio

Wednesday's Preview: The Polar Bears open the 2023 portion of their schedule on Wednesday by returning to Ohio Athletic Conference play with a game at Otterbein … Northern went 6-1 in non-conference play this season after posting a 2-0 mark in the Bluffton Holiday Tournament on Thursday and Friday … Northern received 123 points and is ranked No. 20 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, moving up from No. 25 in the previous poll … ONU received 22 points and is tied with Messiah (Pa.) as the first teams listed in the "others receiving votes" category in this week's WBCA Top 25 Poll … Northern is tied with No. 7 Baldwin Wallace atop the OAC standings with matching 4-0 records … The Polar Bears are riding a seven-game win streak and are coming off wins of 60-50 over Denison and 76-55 over Bethany (W.Va.) in the Bluffton Holiday Tournament … Sophomore Brooke Allen led ONU against Denison with 17 points … Senior Brynn Serbin tallied 13 points, 10 rebounds and six steals, and junior Kristen Luersman added 11 points … Five players scored in double figures for Northern against Bethany led by sophomore Abi Akamine with 13 points and Allen with 12 … Sophomore Layla Dials added 11 points, Luersman had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Serbin finished with 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals … Through 11 games, Serbin (12.8 points per game), Allen (10.6) and Luersman (9.9) lead ONU in scoring … Serbin ranks seventh in the OAC in scoring average … Luersman leads the OAC in rebounding average with 8.6 per game … Serbin has an OAC-high 51 assists and is ranks second in the conference with 28 steals … Serbin has made a team-best 21 3-pointers, which ranks third in the OAC, and is shooting 32.3% from beyond the arc … Serbin is tied for fifth all-time at ONU with 170 career steals … Serbin has 212 career assists, which ranks ninth all-time at ONU … The Polar Bears are holding opponents to 49.3 points per game on 30.3% shooting, including 25.6% from beyond the arc … Northern leads the OAC in points per game allowed and field goal percentage defense … Otterbein is coming off a 1-1 showing in the Bishop Classic after defeating host Ohio Wesleyan 64-57 and falling 89-71 to No. 5 Hope (Mich.) on Thursday and Friday, respectively … Senior Natalie Galaida led the Cardinals with 16 points against OWU, and redshirt senior Jenna Hoschouer finished with a team-high 23 points against Hope …  Wednesday's game is OU's first at home since Dec. 3 … Through 11 games, junior Katie McCrary is averaging an OAC-leading 16.6 points per game … Redshirt senior Kathleen DeCarlo ranks second on the team with 10.7 points per game, and Galaida is third with 9.6 points per game … Hoschouer leads the team with 5.8 rebounds per game, which ranks 10th in the OAC … Hoschouer also has a team-best 25 assists, 19 steals and 13 blocks … Hoschouer ranks fourth in the OAC in blocks and is tied for seventh in the conference in both assists and steals … Galaida has made a team-high 27 3-pointers and is shooting 52.9% from beyond the arc … Galaida ranks second in the OAC in both 3-pointers made and 3-point percentage.

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: ONU leads the all-time series with Otterbein by a 56-36 margin, including a 24-20 mark in Westerville … ONU won 15 straight meetings from 2012 to 2018 … The teams have equally split the past 10 meetings … Last season, OU got a 65-60 home win during the regular season, but ONU avenged that defeat with a 62-46 road victory in the OAC Tournament quarterfinals.

Head Coach Mark Huelsman: Huelsman is in his third season at ONU and has an overall record of 34-17, a winning percentage of .667.