Women's Basketball: Ohio Northern (4-0 Overall) at Case Western Reserve (4-0)

Wednesday, November 28, 2018, 5:30 pm - Horsburgh Gymnasium, Cleveland, Ohio

Wednesday's Preview: Following a brief two-game home stretch, the Ohio Northern women's basketball program hits the road Wednesday, November 28 as the Polar Bears travel to Cleveland, Ohio to take on the Case Western Reserve Spartans in non-conference action ... Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. inside Horsburgh Gymnasium ... Northern enters the midweek battle sporting a 4-0 overall record through the first two weeks in the 2018-19 campaign ... In their most recent outing, the Polar Bears upended Ohio Wesleyan in a nail-biting, 66-64 overtime thriller inside the ONU Sports Center on Saturday ... Senior guard Jenna Dirksen produced a career-high 22 points to lead all scorers and converted the game-winning layup just before the final buzzer sounded ... Northern also received double-digit efforts from juniors Abby Weeks and Emily Mescher, who recorded 12 and 10 points, respectively ... Meanwhile, senior forward Tori Wyss also had a memorable day, hauling in a career-high 17 rebounds in the victory ... Through four games, Dirksen leads the program with 15.0 points per contest and stands second in made three-pointers with eight and assists with 10 ... She also stands third in the Ohio Athletic Conference in scoring ... Meanwhile, Weeks resides second in scoring with 9.8 points per game while also leading the team with 12 assists ... With her performance Saturday, Wyss now leads the Polar Bears with 8.0 rebounds per contest ... As a team, Northern has shot 44.7% from the floor, including 38% from three-point territory ... ONU is allowing just 52 points per contest to the opposition and has reeled in 48.8 boards per contest ... Case Western Reserve enters the game owning a similar 4-0 overall record ... The Spartans are coming off a 79-65 victory over OAC foe John Carroll on Sunday ... Senior guard/forward Hillary Hellman currently paces the CWRU roster with 20.3 points per game while forward Kara Hageman sits second with 17.8 points per contest and leads the team with a 10.8 rebounding average ... As a team, the Spartans are posting 78.3 points per contest through their first four games this season.  

Ohio Northern Probable Starters:

G - #11 Alyssa Manley, Sr. (3.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 5 steals)
G - #15 Abby Weeks, Jr. (9.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 12 assists)
G - #31 Jenna Dirksen, Sr. (15.0 ppg, 10 assists, 8 3FGs)
F - #33 Tori Wyss, Sr. (3.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg)
F - #34 Emily Mescher, Jr. (8.0 ppg, 6.8 rpg)

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern currently holds a 3-1 all-time series advantage over the Spartans ... The two teams have played each year since the 2014-15 campaign with the Polar Bears having won the past three meetings ... ONU defeated Case Western Reserve 88-49 last season at the ONU Sports Center.

ONU Head Coach Michele Durand: Durand is now in her 18th season at the helm of the Ohio Northern women's basketball program and currently sports a 302-163 record, a winning percentage of .649 ... She currently stands as the all-time winningest coach in program history after surpassing former Hall of Fame coach Gayle Lauth last season.