Women's Basketball: Ohio Wesleyan (2-1 Overall) at Ohio Northern (3-0 Overall)
Saturday, November 24, 2018, 3 pm - ONU Sports Center, Ada, Ohio
Saturday's Preview: The Ohio Northern women's basketball program wraps up a brief two-game home spell this weekend as the Polar Bears host in-state foe Ohio Wesleyan for a non-conference battle inside the ONU Sports Center Saturday afternooon ... Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. in Ada ... ONU enters the weekend sporting a 3-0 overall record after upending area-rival Defiance 90-45 in their 2018-19 home opener Tuesday evening ... The Polar Bears have now won their last eight home-opening contests dating back to the 2010-11 campaign ... Senior guard Jenna Dirksen tossed in 12 points to lead an ONU team that saw 13 different scorers in the contest ... Sophomore Emily Brock and freshman Annie Weckesser registered 11 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the double-figure scorers while Brock also led the team with five rebounds ... Through three games, Dirksen sits first on the team with 12.7 points per contest and nine assists ... Brock sits second with 10.3 points per game and has hit a team-high nine three-pointers ... Meanwhile, junior center Emily Mescher has recorded a team-best 6.3 boards per game ... As a team, Northern has shot an impressive 47.8% from the floor, including 41.2% from long range ... ONU is holding opponents to just 48 points per contest and out-rebounding the opposition by 17 per game ... Ohio Wesleyan enters this weekend's non-conference affair sporting a 2-1 overall record ... OWU started the season winning the Nonno Alby Tip-Off Tournament, hosted by Alvernia (Pa.) ... They then dropped an 87-62 decision to OAC foe Mount Union Tuesday on the road ... Freshman guard Devin Hefner leads the Battling Bishops with 15.3 points per game while junior Elea Karras sits second averaging 13 points per outing ... Junior guard/post player Claire Sterling currently ranks as the team's top rebounder with 6.7 boards per game.
Ohio Northern Probable Starters:
G - #11 Alyssa Manley, Sr. (5.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3 steals)
G - #15 Abby Weeks, Jr. (9.0 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 8 assists)
G - #31 Jenna Dirksen, Sr. (12.7 ppg, 9 assists, 50% FG)
F - #33 Tori Wyss, Sr. (3.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg)
F - #34 Emily Mescher, Jr. (7.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
ONU Returning Statistical Leaders:
| Scoring | Rebounding | 3FGs | Assists | Steals | ||||||||||||||
| 1. | Dirksen | 12.7 | 1. | Mescher | 6.3 | 1. | Brock | 9 | 1. | Dirksen | 9 | 1. | Hale | 4 | ||||
| 2. | Brock | 10.3 | 2. | Wyss | 5.0 | 2. | Dirksen | 5 | 2. | Weeks | 8 | 2. | Manley | 3 | ||||
| 3. | Weeks | 9.0 | 3. | Yankle | 4.7 | 3. | Yankle | 3 | Manley | 8 | 3. | Yankle | 3 | |||||
| Jacobs | 3 | Jacobs | 8 |
All-Time Series: Ohio Northern holds a 17-9 all-time series advantage over the Battling Bishops, which includes a 7-6 advantage while defending home court ... ONU has won the last three matchups and has claimed six of the past seven meetings ... The Polar Bears captured last season's meeting in Delaware with a 54-36 final.
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 301-163 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.
