Women’s Basketball: Ohio Northern (0-0 Overall) v La Roche (Pa.) (0-0 Overall) and Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) (1-0 Overall) at Washington & Jefferson Tip-Off Tournament
Friday, November 11, 2022, 7 p.m. - Salvitti Family Gymnasium, Washington, Pa.
Saturday, November 12, 2022, 2 p.m. - Salvitti Family Gymnasium, Washington, Pa.
Tournament Preview: The Polar Bears open their 2022-23 season on Friday and Saturday in the Springhill Suites Women's Basketball Tip-Off Tournament at Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) under third-year head coach Mark Huelsman … ONU will play La Roche (Pa.) at 7 p.m. on Friday and will face host Washington & Jefferson on Saturday at 2 p.m. … Northern is coming off a 17-8 season, including a 10-6 mark in Ohio Athletic Conference play, in 2021-22 … ONU returns 11 letter winners, including two who started double-digit games, from last year's team that advanced to the OAC Tournament semifinals … Senior Brynn Serbin leads the list of returners as an All-OAC Second Team selection from a year ago … Serbin, the 2019-20 OAC Freshman of the Year, is a three-time All-OAC selection … As a junior, Serbin led the team with 9.3 points and 3.2 assists per game while adding 5.3 rebounds per game in 24 games, including 22 starts … Serbin led the OAC with 68 steals and ranked fourth in the conference with 76 assists last season … Serbin enters the season ranked eighth in program history in steals (142) and is 12 assists shy of breaking into the top 20 on the all-time list in that category … Junior Kristen Luersman played in 23 games, starting 12 of them, a season ago and averaged 6.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game … Kasey Knippen joins Serbin as the team's lone seniors in 2022-23 … Knippen played in 23 games, making three starts, last season and averaged 4.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game while making 22 3-pointers with a team-best 40.7% accuracy … The remaining returning letter winners include juniors Grace Dean and Peyton Warnecke and sophomores Abi Akamine, Brooke Allen, Jada Benjamin, Layla Dials, Abby Dickson and Kelsey Siereveld … Friday's game also marks the season opener for La Roche … The Redhawks have won nine of the past 11 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference championships and finished 20-6 and played in the NCAA Tournament last season … The reigning AMCC champs were picked as the favorite in the conference in the league's preseason coaches' poll … The Redhawks are led by senior Danajah Sanders and sophomore Makayla Abram … Sanders averaged 13.7 points per game last season and was named AMCC Preseason Player of the Year for 2022-23 … Abram shot 49% from the field and averaged 12.4 points per game as a freshman last season en route to being named the AMCC Newcomer of the Year … Washington & Jefferson opened its season on Tuesday with a 67-53 win at No. 19 Marietta … Sophomore Bryn Bezjak tallied career-highs in points (19) and rebounds (8) to lead the Presidents in the victory … Sophomore Meghan Dryburgh added 18 points, 13 rebounds, five blocks and four assists, and sophomore Adalynn Cherry scored a career-high 18 points … Cherry was 4-for-5 from 3-point range and added six rebounds and four assists … W&J was picked as the favorite to win the Presidents' Athletic Conference championship this season in the league's preseason coaches' poll … The Presidents are coming off a 2021-22 season in which they finished 23-5 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament … Dryburgh is a returning All-PAC Second Team selection.
ONU Returning Statistical Leaders (2021-22 Stats):
Scoring | Rebounding | 3FGs | Assists | Steals | ||||||||||||||
1. | Serbin | 9.3 | 1. | Luersman | 5.4 | 1. | Serbin | 24 | 1. | Serbin | 76 | 1. | Serbin | 68 | ||||
2. | Luersman | 6.8 | 2. | Serbin | 5.3 | 2. | Knippen | 22 | 2. | Dickson | 33 | 2. | Knippen | 18 | ||||
3. | Allen | 4.5 | 3. | Allen | 3.4 | 3. | Dickson | 9 | 3. | Knippen | 19 | 3. | Luersman | 14 |
All-Time Series: This marks Ohio Northern's first all-time meeting with La Roche (Pa.) and Washington & Jefferson (Pa.).
Head Coach Mark Huelsman: Huelsman is in his third season at ONU and has an overall record of 24-16, a winning percentage of .600.