Women's Basketball: Ohio Northern (6-2 Overall, 1-2 OAC) at John Carroll (5-3 Overall, 2-1 OAC)

Saturday, December 15, 2018, 3 pm - Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center, University Heights, Ohio

Saturday's Preview: The Ohio Northern women's basketball program returns to the court this Saturday, December 15 as they travel to OAC foe John Carroll for the first meeting between the two programs slated for the 2018-19 campaign ... Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. inside the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center in University Heights, Ohio ... The Polar Bears enter the weekend sporting a 6-2 overall record and a 1-2 mark in OAC action ... ONU dropped a 63-56 decision to Capital in its most recent outing last Saturday, December 8 ... Senior Jenna Dirksen and junior Abby Weeks paced the Northern offense with 14 points each ... Meanwhile, junior center Emily Mescher led the rebounding efforts, hauling in seven boards on the afternoon while adding six points and two assists ... Through eight games, Dirksen leads the Polar Bears in scoring with 15.4 points per contest, which ranks third overall on the conference leaderboards, and has posted double-figure scoring efforts in each contest ... Mescher ranks second in scoring with 9.3 points per game and leads Northern with 7.3 boards per outing ... Her 54.5% field goal clip ranks fifth in the Ohio Athletic Conference while her career 56.9% shooting percentage sits first all-time in school history ... Junior guard Jaclyn Yankle also resides among the conference's best, sitting fifth in three-point field goal percentage with a 53.3% conversion rate ... Senior guard Alyssa Manley has jumped atop the team's statistical charts with 22 assists and seven steals this season ... John Carroll enters the weekend owning a 5-3 overall record and a 2-1 conference mark in the 2018-19 campaign ... In their most recent action, the Blue Streaks toppled Muskingum 73-58 on the road last Saturday ... Sophomore guard/forward Nicole Heffington paces the John Carroll offense with 14.1 points per game and leads all players with 8.0 boards per contest ... The Blue Streaks have posted 68.3 points per game as a team this season and are holding their opponents to just 37% shooting from the floor.

Ohio Northern Probable Starters:

G - #11 Alyssa Manley, Sr. (4.0 ppg, 22 assists, 7 steals)
G - #15 Abby Weeks, Jr. (8.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 6 steals)
G - #31 Jenna Dirksen, Sr. (15.4 ppg, 21 assists, 15 3FGs)
F - #33 Tori Wyss, Sr. (4.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
F - #34 Emily Mescher, Jr. (9.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 54.5% FG)

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern currently holds a 40-24 all-time series advantage over the Blue Streaks, which includes a 19-14 record on the road ... In 2017-18, the two programs split the season series with ONU winning 75-37 at home and falling 68-66 on the road ... Dating back to the 2014-15 campaign, the Polar Bears have won six of the last eight meetings between the two conference schools.

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 304-165 record, a winning percentage of .648 ... She currently stands as the all-time winningest coach in program history after surpassing former Hall of Fame coach Gayle Lauth last season.