Women's Basketball: Wilmington (4-2 Overall, 0-1 OAC) at Ohio Northern (5-1 Overall, 0-1 OAC)
Wednesday, December 5, 2018, 7 pm - ONU Sports Center, Ada, Ohio
Wednesday's Preview: The Ohio Northern women's basketball program begins a two-game Ohio Athletic Conference home stand Wednesday evening as the Polar Bears welcome in the Wilmington Quakers ... Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside the ONU Sports Center in Ada, Ohio ... ONU enters the midweek contest sporting a 5-1 overall record and an 0-1 mark in conference play this season ... Ohio Northern is coming off a 77-58 loss to Mount Union last Saturday in the 2018-19 conference opener ... Senior guard Jenna Dirksen led the Polar Bears with 11 points on the afternoon ... She has scored in double-figures in each contest this season, including a pair of 20-or-more point outings against Ohio Wesleyan and Case Western Reserve ... Freshmen Jaidyn Hale and Alissa Stahler added 10 and nine points off the bench over the weekend, respectively, both being career-high efforts ... Through six games this season, Dirksen leads the program with 15.2 point per contest, which stands third in the OAC, and minutes played at 24.8 per game ... She also stands tied with classmate Alyssa Manley atop the team's assist charts, tallying 15 this season ... Meanwhile, senior Tori Wyss has hauled in 8.0 rebounds per game to top the team, making her the fifth-highest rebounder in the conference ... Junior center Emily Mescher ranks second in points per game (9.0) and boards per contest (7.0) for the Polar Bears ... Her 55.3% field goal percentage stands fourth-best in the Ohio Athletic Conference while junior Jaclyn Yankle ranks in similar territory with a 58.3% three-point field goal clip ... The Quakers enter the contest sporting a 4-2 overall record and a similar 0-1 mark in the Ohio Athletic Conference ... Wilmington fell 74-70 to Heidelberg on Saturday in their 2018-19 conference opener after having won their previous three games ... Three players are averaging double-figures in scoring, led by freshman guard Kennedy Lewis with 12.7 points per contest ... Meanwhile, sophomore center Faith Teaford is the top rebounder at 10.2 per outing, which ranks third-best in the OAC.
Ohio Northern Probable Starters:
G - #11 Alyssa Manley, Sr. (3.3 ppg, 15 assists, 7 steals)
G - #15 Abby Weeks, Jr. (7.5 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 14 assists)
G - #31 Jenna Dirksen, Sr. (15.2 ppg, 15 assists, 12 3FGs)
F - #33 Tori Wyss, Sr. (4.7 ppg, 8.0 rpg)
F - #34 Emily Mescher, Jr. (9.0 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 55.3% FG)
ONU Statistical Leaders:
| Scoring | Rebounding | 3FGs | Assists | Steals | ||||||||||||||
| 1. | Dirksen | 15.2 | 1. | Wyss | 8.0 | 1. | Brock | 12 | 1. | Dirksen | 15 | 1. | Manley | 7 | ||||
| 2. | Mescher | 9.0 | 2. | Mescher | 7.0 | Dirksen | 12 | Manley | 15 | 2. | Weeks | 5 | ||||||
| 3. | Weeks | 7.5 | 3. | Weeks | 4.3 | 3. | Yankle | 7 | 3. | Weeks | 14 | 3. | Hale | 4 |
All-Time Series: Northern holds a slight 28-22 all-time series advantage over the Quakers entering Wednesday's contest ... The Polar Bears have won the last 10 contests dating back to the 2015 regular season ... ONU defeated Wilmington three times last season with the most recent meeting occurring in the OAC Tournament when the Polar Bears won 76-60.
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 303-164 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.
