Women’s Basketball: Mount Union (6-12 Overall, 3-8 OAC) at #18 Ohio Northern (16-2 Overall, 10-1 OAC)
Saturday, January 28, 2023, 4 p.m. - ONU Sports Center, Ada, Ohio
Saturday's Preview: The Polar Bears continue Ohio Athletic Conference play on Saturday hosting Mount Union in the back half of a men's-women's doubleheader … This marks ONU's Bake a Difference game in which the team is raising money for the Amy Weeks Foundation in support of breast cancer awareness through the sale of baked goods and raffle baskets/items at the game … Northern is tied atop the OAC standings with No. 10 Baldwin Wallace with a three-game lead on third-place Marietta and 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 71-37 road win over Mount Union led by a career-high 25 points from senior Brynn Serbin, 13 from senior Kasey Knippen and 11 from freshman Mackenzie Suprano … Northern is ranked No. 18 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll and is tied with Elizabethtown (Pa.) at No. 20 in the WBCA Top 25 Poll this week … ONU is coming off Thursday's 74-66 win at Wilmington, which was delayed one day due to inclement weather … Sophomore Brooke Allen led ONU with 16 points and seven rebounds … Serbin and sophomore Layla Dials added 13 points each … Through 18 games, Serbin (14.2 points per game), junior Kristen Luersman (11.4) and Allen (11.1) lead ONU in scoring … Serbin ranks second in the OAC in scoring average, and Luersman is 10th … Luersman ranks second in the OAC in rebounding average with 8.6 per game and is tied for sixth in the conference with 16 blocks … Serbin has an OAC-high 80 assists and 50 steals … Serbin has made a team-best 35 3-pointers, which is tied for second in the OAC, and is shooting 36.1% from beyond the arc … Serbin ranks second all-time at ONU with 192 career steals and is 17 shy of tying the program record of 209 set by Katie Mengos ('10-'13) … Serbin has 241 career assists, which ranks fifth all-time at ONU … Northern leads the OAC in field goal percentage defense (32.4%), is tied for first in points per game allowed (51.9) and ranks second in points per game (63.7) … Mount Union is coming off Wednesday's 65-60 home loss to John Carroll … Seniors Gretchen Koken and Madison Hensley led the Purple Raiders with 18 points each … Koken led UMU with 11 points in the Raiders' loss to ONU earlier this season … UMU is tied with Muskingum for eighth place in the OAC standings … Through 18 games, Koken leads UMU with 10.9 points per game followed by senior Emma Cannon (10.4) and sophomore Ali Hudik (8.4) … Koken ranks fifth in the OAC with 7.1 rebounds per game … Sophomore Dae Dae Nash is tied for 10th in the OAC with 36 assists … Freshman Bailey Shutsa is tied for fourth in the OAC with 33 steals … Freshman Sierra Schlosser is tied for ninth in the OAC with 14 blocks … Koken has made a team-high 23 3-pointers on 31.9% shooting from beyond the arc.
ONU Statistical Leaders:
Scoring | Rebounding | 3FGs | Assists | Steals | ||||||||||||||
1. | Serbin | 14.2 | 1. | Luersman | 8.6 | 1. | Serbin | 35 | 1. | Serbin | 80 | 1. | Serbin | 50 | ||||
2. | Luersman | 11.4 | 2. | Serbin | 6.1 | 2. | Suprano | 21 | 2. | Luersman | 29 | 2. | Luersman | 26 | ||||
3. | Allen | 11.1 | 3. | Allen | 5.2 | 3. | Knippen | 18 | 3. | Akamine | 23 | 3. | Knippen | 16 | ||||
Dials | 23 |
All-Time Series: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series with Mount Union by a 48-35 margin, including a 29-14 mark in Ada … ONU has won six straight meetings and 19 of the past 21 … In the teams' meeting earlier this season, ONU came away with a 71-37 win in Alliance on Dec. 10.
Head Coach Mark Huelsman: Huelsman is in his third season at ONU and has an overall record of 40-18, a winning percentage of .690.