Brynn Serbin named ONU's Outstanding Senior Female Athlete for 2022-23
By Wes Mayberry
ADA — Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) is the recipient of Ohio Northern's Helen Ludwig Outstanding Senior Female Athlete Award for the 2022-23 season.
The award is presented annually to a senior female athlete based upon overall athletic accomplishment. The winner is selected from nominations and votes from female sports head coaches at ONU.
In her senior season in 2022-23, Serbin led the ONU women's basketball team to Ohio Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament championships en route to earning a berth in the NCAA Division III Tournament and advancing to the Sweet 16. The Polar Bears finished 25-5 overall and were ranked as high as No. 10 in the D3hoops.com poll and No. 11 in the WBCA poll before closing the year at No. 16 and 12, respectively.
Serbin started all 30 of ONU's game and finished the year averaging 14.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game. She ranked second in the OAC in scoring average and led the conference with 134 assists and 81 steals, both of which are program records for a single season. She scored in double figures in 24 games, including a career-high 25 points against Mount Union on Dec. 10. Her 429 points in 2022-23 rank fifth all-time at ONU for a single season.
Serbin earned numerous accolades for her play this season. She was named a Second Team All-American and the Region 7 Player of the Year as a member of the All-Region 7 First Team by D3hooops.com and was a WBCA NCAA Division III Coaches' All-American. She was also named to the WBCA NCAA Division III Women's Collegiate All-Star Team.
The 2019-20 OAC Freshman of the Year is now a four-time All-OAC selection after earning a spot on the First Team this season as the conference's Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.
A three-time OAC Player of the Week in 2022-23, Serbin was also named the OAC Tournament MVP after averaging 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals per game in wins over Otterbein and Marietta. She was also named the Springhill Suites Tournament Most Outstanding Player after averaging 11.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 4.0 steals in wins over La Roche (Pa.) and Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) to open the season.
A four-time All-OAC selection, Serbin is ONU's all-time leader in career steals with 223 and ranks third in program history with 295 career assists. She ranks fifth all-time with 132 made 3-pointers in her career and has 913 career points, which is 13 shy of breaking into the top 20 on the program's all-time list in that category.
The Outstanding Senior Female Athlete Award is named in honor of Helen Ludwig, who is widely credited with founding women's sports at ONU. She returned to her alma mater in 1963 to help coach basketball, track, volleyball, tennis and softball and to teach health courses. When Title IX became law in 1972, she began laying a foundation for women's sports at ONU that future generations could build upon.