Serbin tallies double-double, becomes program's all-time assists leader as Women's Basketball gets 48-41 win over No. 22 Marietta

ADA — Fifth-year senior All-American Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) tallied a double-double and became the Ohio Northern women's basketball team's all-time career assists leader as the Polar Bears came away with a 48-41 win over No. 22 Marietta on Saturday afternoon in a matchup of two of the top three teams in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings.

The Basics

• Records: Ohio Northern (5-3 overall, 4-0 OAC), #22 Marietta (6-2 overall, 3-1 OAC)
• Venue: ONU Sports Center — Ada, Ohio

The Game

• Serbin made four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds to go with three assists and two steals.
• Junior Brooke Allen (Woodville/Woodmore) added eight points and nine rebounds, and junior Abi Akamine (Lahaina, Hawaii/Lahainaluna) finished with seven points and three rebounds for ONU.
• Paige Tolson led the Pioneers with 12 points.
• ONU held a slim 13-12 lead at the end of the first quarter and trailed 23-18 at halftime.
• The Polar Bears outscored the Pioneers 18-6 in the third quarter spurred by a 12-0 run courtesy of a pair of 3-pointers from sophomore Mackenzie Suprano (Cutler/Waterford) and a triple each from sophomore Noelle Ruane (St. Marys) and Serbin. That run turned a 26-22 ONU deficit into a 34-26 Polar Bear lead.
• Northern led 36-29 going into the fourth quarter.
• The Pioneers got within one, 36-35, with 6:51 remaining, but Serbin answered with a 3-pointer.
• A triple from Tolson pulled MC within one, 39-38, with 3:55 remaining, but ONU answered with a 9-0 run for a 48-38 edge with just 17 seconds left en route to the win. Akamine had five points during that run to go with two from Serbin and one each from Ruane and junior Abby Dickson (Germantown/Valley View).
• Ohio Northern made 17-of-61 field goals for 27.9% and was 8-of-23 from beyond the arc for 34.8%, while MC was 15-of-68 from the floor for 22.1% and made 6-of-21 3-pointers for 28.6%.
• ONU made 6-of-10 free throws for 60%, and MC was 5-of-7 from the line for 71.4%.
• The Polar Bears out-rebounded the Pioneers by a 54-47 margin.

Notables

• Saturday's game was a rematch of last season's OAC Tournament championship game, which ONU won 60-45.
• The Polar Bears are off to a 4-0 start in OAC play for the second straight season and are the defending OAC regular-season and tournament champions.
• Ohio Northern is now 63-21 all-time against Marietta, including a 39-5 mark in Ada.
• Serbin is ONU's all-time leader in career steals with 242 and assists with 319. On Saturday, she surpassed the program's previous career assists record of 318, which was held by Cenzie Yoder ('11-'14).
• Serbin ranks 15th on ONU's all-time career scoring list with 1,026 points. She ranks fifth all-time with 148 made 3-pointers in her career, is tied for 15th all-time in made free throws with 184 and is 16th all-time in rebounds with 490.
• Serbin is 12 made field goals away from breaking into the top 20 of the program's all-time list in that category.
• Fourth-year head coach Mark Huelsman is now 54-24 at Ohio Northern.

Up Next

• The Polar Bears return to action on Dec. 28-29 for games against No. 10 Trinity (Tex.) and La Verne (Calif.) at the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas, Nev.