Women's Basketball concludes regular season with 75-62 road win against Muskingum

By Scott Beaton

NEW CONCORD — The Ohio Northern women's basketball team finished its regular season with a 75-62 victory at Muskingum on Saturday afternoon at Performance Court.

The Polar Bears improve to 13-12 overall and 7-11 in the Ohio Athletic Conference and the Muskies fall to 1-24 overall and 0-18 in the OAC.

Junior Emily Mescher (Maria Stein/Marion Local) scored 15 points and hauled in five rebounds while junior Abby Weeks (West Chester/Mount Notre Dame) netted 14 points for ONU.

Northern also received 13 points, four assists, and three rebounds from senior Jenna Dirksen (Beavercreek/Carroll) and eight points and five rebounds from sophomore Emily Brock (Akron/Revere).

ONU head coach Michele Durand also passed legandary head coach Gale Daughtery to become the school's all-time leader in basketball victories with her 311th victory.

In 18 years at Ohio Northern, Durand is now 311-175, passing the mark of 310-218 by Daugherty at the helm of the ONU men's team from 1973-92.

With 2:23 left in the first quarter, Northern earned its first lead of the contest as junior Jaclyn Yankle (Youngstown/Cardinal Mooney) knocked down a 3-pointer on an assist by Brock.

Muskingum regained the lead at 21-19, but freshman Lexi Jacobs (Wapakoneta) converted a lay-up to to close the first quarter, tying the game at 21.

Trailing 25-24 with 7:29 to go in the half, a lay-up by Mescher off an assist by Dirksen started a 10-0 run for ONU, capped by a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer by Weeks.

The Muskies responded with a quick 7-1 run to cut the deficit to 35-32 at the half.

Weeks was 9-for-9 from the free throw line on the afternoon, knocking in three free throws to extend the Polar Bear lead to 54-48 after 30 minutes of action.

MU came within 61-56 with 4:45 remaining, but ONU put the game out of reach with a 10-0 spurt, capped by a 3-pointer by Dirksen off an assist by senior Alyssa Manley (Lima/Bath) with 2:23 left.

Overall, the Polar Bears were 22-for-58 from the field for 37.9 percent and 8-for-21 from 3-point range for 38.1 percent. Northern also made a season-high 23 free throws on a season-high 25 attempts. The Muskies were 24-for-58 from the floor for 41.4 percent and 7-for-23 for 30.4 percent on 3-pointers.

Seventh-seeded Ohio Northern will return to the court on Tuesday at 7 p.m., traveling to Berea to face second-seeded Baldwin Wallace in the quarterfinals of the OAC Tournament.