Women's Basketball: Mount Union (13-5 Overall, 6-5 OAC) at Ohio Northern (11-7 Overall, 5-6 OAC)

Saturday, January 26, 2019, 3 p.m. - ONU Sports Center, Ada, Ohio

| Gameday Program (.pdf) |

Saturday's Game Notes: The Ohio Northern women's basketball team returns to the ONU Sports Center Saturday afternoon to host the Mount Union Purple Raiders following a two-game road stretch ... Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. in Ada ... The Polar Bears enter the weekend sporting an 11-7 overall record and a 5-6 mark against the conference loop ... With seven games remaining in the 2018-19 regular season, ONU stands seventh in the conference standings ... On Wednesday, the Polar Bears defeated Wilmington 64-55 on the road at Raizk Arena ... Junior center Emily Mescher posted her second double-double this season, leading Northern with 14 points and 11 rebounds ... Meanwhile, freshman guard Lexi Jacobs finished with a career-high 13 points on five-for-seven shooting ... Senior guard Jenna Dirksen rounded out the double-digit scorers, contributing 12 points to go along with five rebounds and two steals ... As a team, Ohio Northern held an impressive 45-28 rebounding advantage, which led to 15 second-chance points ... Through 18 games this season, Dirksen is averaging 14.4 points per game to lead the Polar Bear attack and rank fifth-best in the OAC ... Mescher leads the team and sits eighth in the Ohio Athletic Conference with 6.8 rebounds per game ... She also stands first on the team and ninth in the conference with a 50% field goal percentage ... Additionally, sophomore guard Emily Brock tops the Polar Bears and is second in the OAC with a 42.3% three-point field goal mark ... Mount Union enters Saturday with a 13-5 overall record and a 6-5 OAC mark, having dropped their previous three matchups ... The Purple Raiders fell to John Carroll 83-71 on Wednesday ... They currently stand in a two-way tie for fifth in the conference standings with Marietta ... Senior guard Rachel Tinkey leads the program averaging 15.6 points per game ...  Meanwhile, sophomore forward Sarah Hessel leads the team in rebounding with 6.9 per outing ... As a team, Mount Union is averaging 70.3 points per game.

Ohio Northern Probable Starters:

G - #11 Alyssa Manley, Sr. (5.1 ppg, 44 assists, 18 steals)
G - #15 Abby Weeks, Jr. (8.6 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 20 steals)
G - #31 Jenna Dirksen, Sr. (14.4 ppg, 33 3FGs, 20 steals)
F - #33 Tori Wyss, Sr. (5.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
F - #34 Emily Mescher, Jr. (8.9 ppg, 6.8 rpg)

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern currently leads the all-time series 42-34 between the two programs, including a 26-13 edge at home ... Mount Union defeated ONU 77-58 in the first meeting this season on December 1, ending a 13-game win streak for Northern over the Purple Raiders.

ONU Head Coach Michele Durand: Durand is now in her 18th season at the helm of the Ohio Northern women's basketball program and sports a 309-170 record, a winning percentage of .645 ... She currently stands as the all-time winningest coach in program history.