Women’s Basketball: #14 Ohio Northern (15-1 Overall, 9-0 OAC) at Marietta (11-5 Overall, 6-3 OAC)

Saturday, January 21, 2023, 4 p.m. - Ban Johnson Arena, Marietta, Ohio

Saturday's Preview: The Polar Bears open the second half of their Ohio Athletic Conference schedule on Saturday in the back end of a men's-women's doubleheader at Marietta … Northern leads the OAC standings by one game over No. 12 Baldwin Wallace and is three games up on Marietta, which is tied for third with Otterbein … The top six teams qualify for the OAC Tournament, which is scheduled for Feb. 21-25 … In the teams' first meeting this season, ONU came away with a 54-43 home win over Marietta led by a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double from junior Kristen Luersman … Senior Brynn Serbin added 14 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the game … Northern is ranked No. 14 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll and No. 15 in the WBCA Top 25 Poll this week … The Polar Bears are riding a 12-game win streak, which is their longest since winning 17 straight in the 2017-18 season … ONU is coming off Wednesday's 67-31 home win over Heidelberg … Serbin led the way with 14 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals … Luersman and sophomore Layla Dials added 12 points each … Serbin is the reigning OAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week … Through 16 games, Serbin (14.3 points per game), Luersman (11.4) and sophomore Brooke Allen (10.5) lead ONU in scoring … Serbin ranks second in the OAC in scoring average, and Luersman is ninth … Luersman leads the OAC in rebounding average with 8.8 per game and is tied for sixth in the conference with 13 blocks … Serbin has an OAC-high 74 assists and 48 steals … Serbin has made a team-best 29 3-pointers, which is ranks fourth in the OAC, and is shooting 34.9% from beyond the arc, which ranks eighth in the OAC … Serbin ranks second all-time at ONU with 190 career steals and is 19 shy of tying the program record of 209 set by Katie Mengos ('10-'13) … Serbin has 235 career assists, which ranks sixth all-time at ONU … The Polar Bears are holding opponents to 50 points per game on 31.1% shooting, including 26.2% from beyond the arc … Northern leads the OAC in points per game allowed and field goal percentage defense … Marietta is coming off Wednesday's 55-47 loss at Capital, which ended a five-game win streak … Senior Devin Hefner led MC with 12 points and was 6-of-8 from the foul line … Through 16 games, junior Olivia Gribble leads MC with 10.6 points per game followed by senior Erin Hahn (9.0) and Hefner (8.9) … Hahn ranks second in the OAC with 8.4 rebounds per game … Hefner and junior Hannah Schill lead the team in assists with 35 and 34, respectively, which ranks eighth and tied for ninth in the OAC … Junior Makenzie Wilson is tied for fifth in the OAC with 28 steals and ranks third in the conference with 19 blocks … Gribble has made a team-high 31 3-pointers, which ranks third in the OAC, and is shooting 28.4% from beyond the arc … MC ranks third in the OAC in allowing 54.9 points per game.

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series with Marietta by a 61-20 margin, including a 24-15 mark in Marietta … ONU has won four of the past six meetings … In the teams' meeting earlier this season, ONU came away with a 54-43 win in Ada on Dec. 3.

Head Coach Mark Huelsman: Huelsman is in his third season at ONU and has an overall record of 39-17, a winning percentage of .696.