Women’s Basketball: #20 Ohio Northern (11-1 Overall, 5-0 OAC) at John Carroll (8-4 Overall, 3-2 OAC)

Saturday, January 7, 2023, 4 p.m. - DeCarlo Varsity Center, University Heights, Ohio

Saturday's Preview: The Polar Bears continue Ohio Athletic Conference play on Saturday with a game at John Carroll in the second half of a men's-women's doubleheader … Northern received 123 points and is ranked No. 20 in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 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 5-0 conference records … The Polar Bears are riding an eight-game win streak and are coming off Wednesday's 75-70 double overtime victory at Otterbein … Senior Brynn Serbin finished with a game-high 22 points for ONU to go with four rebounds, two assists and six steals … Junior Kristen Luersman posted her fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and 13 rebounds, and sophomore Brooke Allen added 15 points and five rebounds … Through 12 games, Serbin (13.6 points per game), Allen (11.0) and Luersman (10.7) lead ONU in scoring … Serbin is tied for fifth in the OAC in scoring average … Luersman leads the OAC in rebounding average with 9.0 per game and is tied for seventh in the conference with 10 blocks … Serbin has an OAC-high 53 assists and 34 steals … Serbin has made a team-best 23 3-pointers, which ranks third in the OAC, and is shooting 32.4% from beyond the arc … Serbin ranks fifth all-time at ONU with 176 career steals … Serbin has 214 career assists, which is tied for eighth all-time at ONU … The Polar Bears are holding opponents to 51 points per game on 31.2% shooting, including 25.7% from beyond the arc … Northern leads the OAC in points per game allowed and field goal percentage defense … John Carroll is riding a three-game win streak coming off Wednesday's 84-49 victory at Heidelberg … Freshman Ava Ryncarz led JCU with 18 points, while sophomore Maddie Pietrowski and junior Halle Landies added 14 and 10 points, respectively … Through 12 games, senior Kaelyn Underwood leads the Blue Streaks with 14.5 points per game followed by Landies (9.8) and Pietrowski (8.5) … Underwood ranks third in the OAC in scoring average and blocks (15) and 10th in the conference with 6.1 rebounds per game … Senior Jaylen Hoffmann has a team-best 27 assists, which ranks seventh in the OAC … Pietrowski is tied for fifth in the OAC with 22 steals … Landies has made a team-high 18 3-pointers, which is tied for seventh in the OAC, and is shooting 27.7% from beyond the arc.

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: ONU leads the all-time series with John Carroll by a 43-32 margin, including a 20-21 mark in University Heights … JCU has won five of the past six meetings … JCU won all three meetings last season, getting victories of 54-49 in Ada and 68-43 in University Heights before defeating ONU 64-50 at home in the OAC Tournament semifinals.

Head Coach Mark Huelsman: Huelsman is in his third season at ONU and has an overall record of 35-17, a winning percentage of .673.