Women's Basketball wins second consecutive OAC Tournament title, defeats Marietta 63-55 in championship game

MARIETTA — Fourth-seeded Ohio Northern won its second consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament title with a 63-55 victory at second-seeded Marietta in the championship game on Saturday afternoon.

| OAC Championships Site |

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (18-9 overall), Marietta (21-6 overall)
• Venue: Ban Johnson Fieldhouse - Marietta, Ohio

The Game

• Fifth-year senior All-American Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) led all scorers with 22 points.
• She also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and dished out three assists to lead ONU.
• Freshman Chloee Glenn (Glandorf/Ottawa-Glandorf) scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds off the bench for the Polar Bears.
• Kelly Levering led the Pioneers with 16 points and 9 rebounds.
• The game was tied at 50-all when Glenn scored inside with 5:25 left to give ONU a 52-50 lead.
• Serbin scored at the 3:36 mark to increase the lead to 54-51 and her basket with 2:51 to go made it 56-51.
• Senior Kristen Luersman (Fort Jennings) got a 3-point play at the 2:18 mark and the Polar Bear lead was extended to 59-52.
• Sophia Murray nailed a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left to get MC within 59-55.
• Juniors Layla Dials (Willard) and Mackenzie Suprano (Cutler/Waterford) would each make a pair of free throws in the final 22 seconds to put the game away.
• The game was tight throughout as it was tied at 16 after the first period and MC led 32-30 at halftime and 46-43 after three periods.
• Ohio Northern made 22-of-58 field goals for 37.9 percent and was 7-of-22 from beyond the arc for 31.8 percent while Marietta was 20-of-58 from the floor for 34.5 percent and finished 9-of-21 on 3-pointers for 42.9 percent.
• ONU made 12-of-14 free throws for 85.7 percent and MC was 6-of-12 from the line for 50.0 percent.
• The Pioneers held a 44-33 advantage in rebounds, but ONU forced 19 turnovers while committing only 12.

Notables

• Northern won its second consecutive OAC Tournament title and its sixth in program history.
• Serbin was named the OAC Tournament MVP and Glenn was named to the All-OAC Tournament Team.
• The Polar Bears will now advance to the NCAA III Tournament for the 10th time in school history.
• This marks the 12th OAC Tournament finals appearance in ONU program history. Northern is now 6-6 in its 12 finals appearances.
• The Polar Bears are 34-31 all-time in the OAC Tournament in 36 appearances.
• Northern is now 64-22 all-time against MC, including a 25-17 mark in Marietta and a 6-2 record in the OAC Tournament.
• Serbin is ONU's all-time leader in career steals with 298 and assists with 397.
• Serbin ranks second on ONU's all-time career scoring list with 1,317 points. She ranks third all-time with 187 made 3-pointers in her career, is 10th all-time in made free throws with 226, is 12th all-time in rebounds with 583 and fourth all-time with 452 made field goals.
• Serbin is the only women's basketball player in ONU history to tally at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals in her career.
• Serbin's 22-point game marks this her 21st game in double digits in scoring this season.
• Luersman is now 16th in ONU history with 505 career rebounds.
• Fourth-year head coach Mark Huelsman is now 68-30 at Ohio Northern for a winning percentage of .694.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears have qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament. The selection show will be announced live on Monday at 2:30 pm and can be watched online at NCAA.com.