Women's Basketball: Ohio Northern (12-12 Overall, 6-11 OAC) at Muskingum (1-23 Overall, 0-17 OAC)
Saturday, February 16, 2019, 3 p.m. - Anne C. Steele Center, New Concord, Ohio
Saturday's Game Notes: The Ohio Northern women's basketball team closes the 2018-19 regular season this Saturday afternoon with an OAC battle at Muskingum ... Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. inside the Anne C. Steele Center in New Concord ... The Polar Bears enter the season finale owning a 12-12 overall record and a 6-11 mark against the conference loop ... With one game remaining, Ohio Northern is tied with Wilmington for seventh place in the league standings ... The Polar Bears are coming off a critical, 53-45 OAC victory over Heidelberg Wednesday evening on Senior Night ... Senior guards Jenna Dirksen and Alyssa Manley led the offensive attack with 12 and 11 points, respectively ... Dirksen now has 1,036 career points, which ranks 14th all-time at Ohio Northern ... Meanwhile, sophomore forward Sydney Ward added 10 points on four-for-six shooting ... Senior forward Tori Wyss led the rebounding and defensive efforts, recording 12 rebounds and three steals in the affair ... Through 24 games this season, Dirksen tops the program and resides fifth in the OAC with 14.0 points per game ... She also leads ONU with 52 assists and 29 steals this season ... Junior center Emily Mescher ranks second in scoring with 7.7 points per outing, and classmate Abby Weeks is third with 7.3 ... Mescher and Wyss lead the team in rebounding, sitting and first and second with 6.3 and 6.2 boards per game, respectively ... Mescher's rebounding average ties for ninth on the conference leaderboards ... Sophomore Emily Brock tops ONU and ranks fifth in the OAC with a 41.5% three-point field goal mark ... Muskingum will enter their final contest sporting a 1-23 overall record and a 0-17 mark in the OAC ... In their most recent outing, the Muskies dropped a 72-52 decision to Marietta ... Junior forward Devyn Bonner and sophomore guard Emily Yeager are tied for the team lead in scoring with 12.7 points per game ... Bonner also leads the team and is tied for ninth in the conference with 6.3 rebounds per game.
Ohio Northern Probable Starters:
G - #11 Alyssa Manley, Sr. (5.4 ppg, 51 assists, 20 steals)
G - #15 Abby Weeks, Jr. (7.3 ppg, 37 assists, 22 steals)
G - #31 Jenna Dirksen, Sr. (14.0 ppg, 52 assists, 29 steals)
F - #33 Tori Wyss, Sr. (5.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg)
F - #34 Emily Mescher, Jr. (7.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
ONU Statistical Leaders:
| Scoring | Rebounding | 3FGs | Assists | Steals | ||||||||||||||
| 1. | Dirksen | 14.0 | 1. | Mescher | 6.3 | 1. | Brock | 44 | 1. | Dirksen | 52 | 1. | Dirksen | 29 | ||||
| 2. | Mescher | 7.7 | 2. | Wyss | 6.2 | 2. | Dirksen | 42 | 2. | Manley | 51 | 2. | Weeks | 22 | ||||
| 3. | Weeks | 7.3 | 3. | Dirksen | 3.9 | 3. | Manley | 21 | 3. | Weeks | 37 | 3. | Manley | 20 | ||||
| Ward | 3.9 |
All-Time Series: The Polar Bears currently lead the all-time series 45-39 over the Muskies ... ONU is 16-25 when playing in New Concord ... Northern won the season's first matchup 74-52 on January 5.
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 310-175 record, a winning percentage of .639.