Women's Basketball: #7 Ohio Northern (1-1 Overall) at Defiance (0-2 Overall)
Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2017 - 5:30 pm - Weaner Center, Defiance, Ohio
Tuesday's Contest: The No. 7-ranked Ohio Northern women's basketball team will travel to area-rival Defiance on Tuesday evening as they take on the Yellow Jackets ... Northern rebounded from its season-opening loss in a big way as it defeated St. Mary's (Ind.) 84-48 on the road ... In the victory, head coach Michele Durand became the all-time winningest women's basketball head coach in school history, surpassing former head coach Gayle Lauth ... Durand and her staff welcome back a deep roster that includes 11 letter winners and three starters from last season's team ... Seniors Lindsey Black and Alexis Kirkbride will take over the point guard position after the departure of 2016-17 Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Year Britt Lauck ... Black appeared in all 31 contests last season and ranked fourth on the team and third among returners with 7.2 points per contest a season ago ... Also returning for the Polar Bears is senior Courtney Cramer, juniors Jenna Dirksen and Tori Wyss and freshman Abby Weeks ... Cramer makes her return after ranking second on the team and first among returning players with 39 three points field goals ... She was also named the OAC Tournament Most Valuable Player a season ago after an 18-point performance helped lift Northern to an OAC Tournament title ... Dirksen, an Honorable Mention All-OAC honoree in 2016-17, returns after starting in 30 of 31 contests for ONU last season ... The junior ranked third on the team last season, averaging a career-best 10.3 points per contest, and led the team with a .453 three point field goal percentage in 2016-17 ... Wyss appeared in all 31 contests for ONU last season and averaged 12.9 minutes per contest and 2.5 points per contest ... Weeks returns after appearing in all 31 contests for ONU last season and averaging 4.3 points per contest and 9.2 minutes per game ... Senior All-American Amy Bullimore will look to lead the Polar Bears after being tied for first on the team last season with 14.1 points per contest ... She also led the team in rebounds per contest (8.1), blocks per game (1.6), and field goal percentage (.529) ... Defiance enter's Tuesday evening's contest after dropping its first two contests of the season on the road ... Through those two contests, three players are averaging double figures as juniors Sam Ervin and Ashley Lee are each tied for first on the team with 12.5 points per contest and sophomore Shelby Stamm ranks third on the team with 11.0 ppg ... Ervin also currently has a team-best 7.5 rebounds per contest ... Senior guard Whitney Schalk currently leads the team with 5.5 assists per contest.
Ohio Northern Probable Starters (2016-17 Stats):
G - #10 Lindsey Black, Sr. (7.2 ppg, 56 assists)
G - #20 Courtney Cramer, Sr. (6.3 ppg, 36 3-point FG)
G - #31 Jenna Dirksen, So. (10.3 ppg, 35 steals)
F - #33 Tori Wyss, Jr. (2.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg)
F - #44 Amy Bullimore, Sr. (14.1 ppg, 8.2 rpg)
ONU Returning Statistical Leaders (2016-17 Stats)
| Scoring | Rebounding | 3FGs | Assists | Steals | ||||||||||||||
| 1. | Bullimore | 14.1 | 1. | Bullimore | 8.0 | 1. | Cramer | 36 | 1. | Dirksen | 73 | 1. | Dirksen | 35 | ||||
| 2. | Dirksen | 10.3 | 2. | Dirksen | 4.5 | 2. | Dirksen | 29 | 2. | Cramer | 63 | 2. | Cramer | 27 | ||||
| 3. | Black | 7.2 | 3. | Mescher | 3.3 | 3. | Black | 14 | 3. | Black | 56 | 3. | Bullimore |
23 |
All-Time Series: Northern owns a 20-3 record all-time against Defiance ... The Polar Bears defeated the Yellow Jackets 82-58 last season and has won the last six matchups ... ONU is 6-2 all-time against Defiance on the road.
ONU head coach Michele Durand: Durand is in her 16th season at ONU with a 276-159 record, a winning percentage of .634 ... She became ONU's all-time winningest head coach on 11/21/17 in a victory over St. Mary's (Ind.).