Women's Basketball stays atop OAC standings with a 65-54 victory over Otterbein

By Brandt Marshall

ADA — The No. 13 Ohio Northern women's basketball picked up a key 65-54 OAC victory Wednesday night over Otterbein. The win keeps the Polar Bears atop the OAC standings with five games remaining in OAC action.

The Polar Bears improve to 18-2 overall and 12-1 in the Ohio Athletic Conference while dropping the Cardinals to 11-9, 7-6 OAC.

Senior Brynn Serbin led all scorers with 19 points and added 5 assists and 5 rebounds, sophomore Brooke Allen (Woodville/Woodmore) pitched in 18 points to go with five rebounds and a steal.

Maizie King led Otterbein with 14 points off the bench.

Northern got off to a fast start taking a 9-4 lead capped off with a Serbin jumper before the visitors responded to close the gap to 13-11 at the end of the first quarter.

ONU again started the second quarter quick with a 9-2 run which saw three different players score including junior Kristen Luersman (Fort Jennings) who hit a jumper to give the Polar Bears their largest advantage of the first half. The Cardinals responded with a 7-2 run to close the gap to 24-20. The hosts took a 27-22 lead into the break.

The Polar Bears got two triples from Serbin and a layup from junior Grace Dean (Avon/Lake) to take a 36-27 lead. Once again Otterbein proved they would not go quietly and closed the third quarter with a 13-5 run.

The fourth quarter saw both teams trade baskets as Northern held a razor-thin 47-46 advantage with 4:15 remaining.

The final four minutes saw Northern close with an 18-8 run led by sophomore Abi Akamine (Lahaina, Hawaii/Lahainaluna), who scored 8 of her 11 points in the final frame including a clutch triple with 1:12 left to play to extend the ONU lead to 59-51.

Luersman, sophomore Layla Dials (Willard) and Akamine each nailed a pair of free throws to close out the victory for the Polar Bears.

Ohio Northern made 22-of-51 field goals for 43.1% and was 5-of-15 from 3-point range for 33.3%, while OU also made 22-of-51 field goals and was 4-of-16 from beyond the arc for 25.0%.

ONU was 16-of-26 from the free-throw line for 61.5%, and the Cardinals were 6-of-14 for 42.9%

Northern out-rebounded Otterbein by a 38-27 margin.

The Polar Bears return to action on Saturday when they travel to Bexley to take on Capital for a 2 p.m. tip-off.