Women's Basketball: OAC Tournament Finals - Ohio Northern (15-12 Overall, 7-11 OAC) at John Carroll (21-6 Overall, 15-3 OAC)

Saturday, February 23, 2019, 3 p.m. - Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center, University Heights, Ohio

Saturday's Game Notes: The seventh-seeded Ohio Northern women's basketball program will make its third consecutive appearance in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament Finals this Saturday when the Polar Bears travel to top-seeded John Carroll for the championship game ... Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. inside the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center in University Heights ... ONU will be making its 10th appearance all-time in the OAC Tournament Finals, seeking its fifth postseason title in program history ... The Polar Bears enter the contest sporting a 15-12 overall record this season ... In the semifinal round, Ohio Northern defeated third-seeded Marietta 59-55 at Ban Johnson Arena on Thursday evening ... Sophomore guard Emily Brock paced the Northern offense with a team-high 15 points off a career-high five made three-pointers ... Senior guard Jenna Dirksen added 12 points and dished out a team-high five assists in the victory ... Meanwhile, junior center Emily Mescher chipped in 10 points and tied senior forward Tori Wyss atop the team with eight rebounds each ... As a team, the Polar Bears shot 43.1% from the floor while holding Marietta to a 35.4% shooting clip ... Through 27 games, Dirksen ranks first on the team and fifth in the OAC with 14.2 points per contest ... Her 80.2% free throw conversion rate also ranks fifth among the league leaders ... Additionally, the senior tops the team with 62 assists and 34 steals ... Sophomore guard Emily Brock now tops the league with a 42.9% three-point field goal percentage, and Dirksen sits fourth with a 40.9% mark ... Mescher and Wyss are 1-2 in rebounding with 6.3 and 6.2 rebounds per game, respectively ... Mescher also ranks second in scoring with 8.2 points per outing, and classmate Abby Weeks is third with a 7.7 average ... John Carroll will appear in just their second OAC title game this weekend, entering play with a 21-6 overall record ... The program earned the top seed after posting a league-best, 15-3 record in OAC action ... The Blue Streaks defeated eighth-seeded Wilmington 76-70 on Tuesday and fifth-seeded Otterbein 62-53 on Thursday to reach the final round ... Sophomore Nicole Heffington currently paces the JCU offense with 15.1 points per game, which ranks third in the OAC, and 6.5 rebounds per game.

Ohio Northern Probable Starters:

G - #11 Alyssa Manley, Sr. (5.6 ppg, 56 assists)
G - #15 Abby Weeks, Jr. (7.7 ppg, 41 assists, 23 steals)
G - #31 Jenna Dirksen, Sr. (14.2 ppg, 62 assists, 34 steals)
F - #33 Tori Wyss, Sr. (5.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 23 steals)
F - #34 Emily Mescher, Jr. (8.2 ppg, 6.3 rpg)

ONU Statistical Leaders:

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern leads the all-time series 40-26 over the Blue Streaks ... However, John Carroll owns a slight 3-2 advantage in OAC Tournament matchups ... JCU swept the regular season series, defeating ONU 76-50 and 56-54 in their two meetings.

ONU Head Coach Michele Durand: Durand is currently in her 18th season at the helm of the Ohio Northern women's basketball program ... She is the all-time winningest coach in school history with a 313-175 record, a winning percentage of .641.