The No. 18 Ohio Northern women's basketball team defeated Marietta 60-45 to win the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament championship Saturday afternoon at the ONU Sports Center.
After winning the OAC Regular Season championship, the top-seeded Polar Bears (23-4) completed the sweep of conference titles on Saturday, winning their fifth tournament title and first since the 2016-17 season.
"This is great for our kids," ONU head coach Mark Huelsman said. "They work really hard and are really unselfish and have played together well all year. I'm glad they're getting rewarded at the end of the year for all their hard work."
As the tournament champion, ONU receives the OAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The NCAA Tournament field will be announced during a selection show on Monday at 2:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
Senior Brynn Serbin (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) was named OAC Tournament MVP after tallying a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds to go with seven assists and two steals in Saturday's game.
"Brynn is a really good player. She works really hard and is such a great teammate," Huelsman said. "Her leadership this year has been terrific, and I'm glad she gets recognition and reward."
Sophomore Brooke Allen (Woodville/Woodmore) joined Serbin on the All-Tournament Team after posting 20 points and seven rebounds.
Junior Kristen Luersman (Fort Jennings) added her ninth double-double of the season, contributing 12 points and 14 rebounds.
Second-seeded Marietta (20-7) was led by nine points each from Hannah Kroft and Olivia Gribble.
Led by eight points from Serbin and six from Allen, the Polar Bears jumped out to a 16-7 lead at the end of the first quarter of Saturday's game. But the Pioneers fought back to within one, 23-22, midway through the second period.
Northern took a 28-26 lead into halftime.
Marietta opened the third quarter by tying the score on a layup from Madison Cecil, but ONU answered with a layup from Luersman that sparked an 11-2 run for a 39-30 Polar Bear lead.
Northern ended the third period holding a 41-33 edge and opened up a 13-point lead, 49-36, on a 3-pointer from Luersman with 7:03 remaining en route to the 15-point victory.
"We defended well, and we were in the right spot defensively a lot of times. We rebounded the ball close to the level we need to, and we were able to execute offensively down the stretch to put ourselves in a good spot at the end," Huelsman said.
Ohio Northern made 23-of-57 field goals for 40.4% and was 2-of-10 from 3-point range for 20%, while Marietta made 17-of-66 field goals for 25.8% and was 3-of-18 from beyond the arc for 16.7%.
ONU was 12-of-16 from the free-throw line for 75%, and MC was 8-of-16 for 50%.
Northern out-rebounded Marietta by a 51-39 margin.
