Women’s Basketball: Otterbein (17-9 Overall) at #18 Ohio Northern (21-4 Overall) — OAC Tournament Semifinals

Thursday, February 23, 2023, 7 p.m. - ONU Sports Center, Ada, Ohio

| Game Program (.pdf) | OAC Tournament page |

Thursday's Preview: As the Ohio Athletic Conference Regular Season champion, Ohio Northern is the No. 1 seed in this week's OAC Tournament and will host No. 4 seed Otterbein in Thursday's semifinals after receiving a first-round bye … No. 3 seed Baldwin Wallace plays at No. 2 seed Marietta in Thursday's other semifinal game … The finals are scheduled for Saturday to be played at the home of the higher remaining seed … ONU won the conference regular-season title for the first time since the 2017-18 season and eighth time overall … This marks the 28th straight season that Northern has played in the OAC Tournament, and the Polar Bears are seeking their first tournament championship since the 2016-17 season and fifth all-time … Northern advanced to the tournament semifinals last season before falling 64-50 at John Carroll … The Polar Bears have secured the 11th 20-win season in program history … Northern is ranked No. 18 in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll and the WBCA Top 25 Poll this week … This marks the third straight season that ONU and Otterbein have faced off in the OAC Tournament … Northern defeated OU 61-44 in the 2021 quarterfinals and 62-46 in the 2022 quarterfinals … The Polar Bears won both regular-season meetings with OU this year, 75-70 in double overtime in Westerville on Jan. 4 and 65-54 in Ada on Feb. 1 … Senior Brynn Serbin led ONU in both games, scoring 22 and 19 points, respectively … ONU is coming off Saturday's 89-83 double-overtime loss at Muskingum … Serbin led Northern with 21 points, and junior Kristen Luersman had her eighth double-double of the season, tallying 15 points and 13 rebounds … Sophomore Layla Dials added a career-high 16 points to go with 12 from sophomore Brooke Allen and 11 from sophomore Abi Akamine … Caitlyn DeMassimo poured in a career-high 38 points for the Muskies … Through 25 games, Serbin (14.4 points per game), Luersman (11.3) and Allen (11.0) lead ONU in scoring … Serbin ranks second in the OAC in scoring average, Luersman is eighth, and Allen is tied for 10th … Luersman ranks second in the OAC in rebounding average with 8.6 per game and is tied for ninth in the conference with 16 blocks … Serbin has an OAC-high 110 assists and 72 steals … Serbin is the program's all-time leader in career steals with 214, surpassing the previous record of 209 set by Katie Mengos ('10-'13) … Serbin's 110 assists rank second-best all-time at ONU for a single season and are two shy of the all-time single-season record of 112 set by Britt Lauck in 2017 … Serbin's 72 steals rank third-best all-time at ONU for a single season and are three shy of the all-time single-season record of 75 set by Mengos in 2013 … Serbin has 271 career assists, which ranks third all-time at ONU … Serbin ranks sixth all-time at ONU in 3-pointers made (122) … Luersman has 216 rebounds this season and needs 13 more to move into the top five all-time at ONU for a single season … Serbin has made a team-best 49 3-pointers this season, which ranks second in the OAC, and is shooting 35% from beyond the arc, which ranks eighth in the OAC … Northern leads the OAC in points per game (65.9), field goal percentage (42.1%) and field goal percentage defense (33.4%) … Otterbein is riding a six-game win streak coming off Tuesday's 61-60 home win over Wilmington in the OAC Tournament quarterfinals … OU blocked a driving layup attempt by WC as the final buzzer sounded to secure the victory … Redshirt senior Kathleen DeCarlo led OU with 14 points in the game to go with 10 each from freshman Natalie Allen and junior Katie McCrary … DeCarlo led the Cardinals in their prior meetings with ONU this season, scoring a combined 26 points in the two games … Through 26 games, McCrary leads OU in scoring with 14.6 points per game (in 15 games) followed by DeCarlo (11.0) and redshirt senior Jenna Hoschouer (9.0) … DeCarlo ranks third in the OAC with 7.4 rebounds per game … Hoschouer ranks seventh in the OAC with 62 assists and tied for fifth in the conference with 41 steals … Senior Natalie Galaida has made a team-best 42 3-pointers, which ranks sixth in the OAC, and is shooting an OAC-best 42.9% from beyond the arc … Hoschouer ranks second in the OAC with 33 blocks.

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series with Otterbein by a 58-36 margin, including a 33-16 mark in Ada and 10-1 record in the OAC Tournament … The teams have now faced off in the OAC Tournament in each of the last the seasons with ONU defeating OU in the quarterfinals in each of the last two … ONU swept both prior meetings this season, 75-70 in double overtime in Westerville on Jan. 4 and 65-54 in Ada on Feb. 1 … ONU has won six of the past 10 meetings overall.

Head Coach Mark Huelsman: Huelsman is in his third season at ONU and has an overall record of 45-20, a winning percentage of .692.