Season Review: Women’s Basketball experienced tons of success in 2022-23

By Wes Mayberry

ADA — Highlighted by an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance, Ohio Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles and a record-breaking year by its senior point guard, the Ohio Northern women's basketball team had a wildly successful 2022-23 season under third-year head coach Mark Huelsman.

"I'm proud of our players for the way they handled the adversity that came our way over the course of the season, and I'm grateful that we were able to get back to the NCAA Tournament," Huelsman said. "We had tremendous crowds for our last four home games, and that created a tremendous home court advantage. I'm hopeful that we will continue to get that level of support from our campus and community in the future."

The Polar Bears finished 25-5 overall, including a 15-3 mark in OAC play that won them the league's Regular Season championship for the first time since 2018. They posted a 12-game win streak from Nov. 26 to Jan. 18 and went on to claim their first OAC Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament berth since 2017. The team was 13-1 at home and ranked as high as No. 10 in the D3hoops.com poll and No. 11 in the WBCA poll.

The Polar Bears hosted the first and second rounds of the 2023 NCAA Tournament, defeating Berea (Ky.) and Wisconsin-Oshkosh to advance to the Sweet 16 before ultimately falling at eventual national champion Transylvania (Ky.). Northern ended the year at No. 16 in the D3hoops.com poll and No. 12 in the WBCA poll while leading the OAC in several statistical categories, including field goal percentage (41.1), defensive field goal percentage (32.9), points per game allowed (54.2) and assists per game (12.9).

Northern was led all season long by senior Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny), who averaged 14.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.7 steals per game in starting all 30 contests. 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 this season, 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.

"Brynn has the qualities that all of our accomplished players have had at Ohio Northern. She is a good student, she's a worker, a competitor and a great teammate," Huelsman said. "She had a terrific season, and I am proud of the work that she has put in when nobody is watching."

While Serbin was the catalyst, she got plenty of help from her teammates.

Junior Kristen Luersman (Fort Jennings) was an All-OAC First Team selection and earned an OAC Player of the Week accolade on Nov. 21 after posting a career-high 22-points to go with 10 rebounds in a win at Anderson (Ind.). She started all 30 games and averaged 10.9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game while posting 17 games with double-digit rebounds and tallying 10 double-doubles. She led the OAC in rebounding average, and her 273 total rebounds were two shy of the program's single-season record set by Amy Bullimore in 2017-18.

Luersman will enter her senior season with career averages of 8.3 points and 7.0 rebounds in 68 career games, including 42 starts. Her 474 career rebounds rank 17th all-time at ONU.

"Kristen sets a great example for others in the way that she carries herself, in the way that she goes about her business every day, and in the way that she plays," Huelsman said. "She can do a little bit of everything, and once she figured out that we were really going to need her to rebound for us, her numbers took off. She came into the year in great condition, played a lot of minutes and was still able to make key plays down the stretch of a lot of games."

Sophomore Brooke Allen (Woodville/Woodmore) gave the Polar Bears three All-OAC selections this season, as she was named to the Second Team. Also a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District and Academic All-OAC honoree, Allen was named to the All-OAC Tournament Team after posting a 16-point, 15-rebound double-double against Otterbein and adding 20 points and seven rebounds in the championship win over Marietta. The 20 points and 15 rebounds were both career highs. Allen started 29 of 30 games this season, averaging 11.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.

In 55 career games, including 29 starts, Allen has averaged 8.5 points and 4.5 rebounds.

"Brooke has always been a terrific student, and I'm glad that she was recognized for her academic success this year," Huelsman said. "From a basketball perspective, she showed a tremendous growth from her freshman season. The work she did between the end of last season and the start of this season really showed in her play. She committed herself to rebounding the ball better during the year, and that commitment really showed in the last third of the season."

Sophomore Abi Akamine (Lahaina, Hawaii/Lahainaluna) joined Allen on the CSC Academic All-District and Academic All-OAC teams this season. She started all 30 games and provided strong defensive play all year while averaging 5.5 points and 2.5 rebounds and tallying 20 steals. She made a buzzer-beating shot to give ONU a 53-51 win over Baldwin Wallace in a key OAC battle and came up big with a career-high 14 points in the NCAA Tournament win over Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

"Abi is a worker in all aspects of her life," Huelsman said. "Academically, she is terrific, and I'm glad that she was recognized for her accomplishments. Basketball-wise, there are not numbers that show the impact she made on the game with her defensive effort and toughness. Her offensive confidence grew over the course of the year, and she had some really good offensive games late in the season."

Other key contributors for the Polar Bears this season included sophomore Layla Dials (Willard) and freshman Mackenzie Suprano (Cutler/Waterford).

Dials was named to the Springhill Suites All-Tournament Team after totaling 17 points and 13 rebounds in wins over La Roche (Pa.) and Washington & Jefferson (Pa.). She scored a career-high 16 points in a double-overtime loss at Muskingum on Feb. 18 and closed the year with averages of 5.5 points and 3.1 rebounds in 30 games, including seven starts.

Suprano played in 25 games off the bench, averaging 4.8 points and 3.2 rebounds while making 23 3-pointers on a team-best 37.7% shooting from beyond the arc.

Juniors Grace Dean (Avon/Lake) and Peyton Warnecke (Glandorf/Ottawa-Glandorf) and sophomore Jada Benjamin (Parma/Valley Forge) also played in 25-plus games this season.

Dean joined Allen and Akamine as Academic All-OAC honorees as did sophomores Abby Dickson (Germantown/Valley View) and Kelsey Siereveld (Liberty Township/Lakota East).

The accolades extended to the coaching staff as well, as Huelsman was named the OAC Coach of the Year and the D3hoops.com Region 7 Coach of the Year.

With nearly the entire roster returning, the Polar Bears are primed for more success in the 2023-24 season but aren't resting on their laurels.

"Every team is different, even if the names of the players don't change," Huelsman said. "There is a ton of talent returning in the league next year, and we play a difficult non-league schedule, so we definitely have our work cut out for us. Everyone in our program, coaches included, needs to have a great spring, summer and fall so that we can have the opportunity to have another great winter."