Women's Basketball: Ohio Northern (10-6 Overall, 4-5 OAC) at Capital (10-6 Overall, 5-4 OAC)

January 17, 2019

Friday, January 18, 2019, 7 p.m. - Capital Center, Bexley, Ohio

Friday's Game Notes: The Ohio Northern women's basketball program begins the second leg of the 2018-19 Ohio Athletic Conference schedule Friday night when the Polar Bears take a southeastern journey to face off against the Capital Crusaders in an OAC showdown ... Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside The Capital Center Performance Arena in Bexley ... Friday night's contest was previously slated for Saturday, January 19, but impending winter weather from Winter Storm Harper has forced the contest to be moved one day prior ... Northern enters the conference affair sporting a 10-6 overall record and a 4-5 mark in the Ohio Athletic Conference, placing them in a tie for seventh in the league standings with Heidelberg ... The Polar Bears are coming off a hard-fought, 61-54 loss in overtime to Otterbein on Wednesday night ... Seniors Jenna Dirksen and Tori Wyss guided the Ohio Northern offense, each registering double-figure scoring efforts in the midweek contest ... Dirksen posted 16 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a pair of steals against the Cardinals ... Meanwhile, Wyss tied her season-best scoring effort with 11 points and led the team with seven rebounds ... Through 16 games this season, Dirksen ranks first on the team and fifth in the OAC averaging 14.0 points per game ... She also ranks fifth in the league with an 83.6% free throw percentage ... Wyss and junior center Emily Mescher are tied atop the program's rebounding charts with 6.4 boards per contest ... Mescher also ranks among the conference's best statistical performers, sitting ninth in field goal percentage with a 49.6% shooting clip ... She ranks second all-time at ONU with a 54.6% career field goal percentage ... Additionally, sophomore guard Emily Brock sits in a tie for fourth on the OAC's three-point field goal percentage list with a 43.8% conversion rate ... Capital enters Friday owning a similar 10-6 overall record and a 5-4 OAC mark, placing them in a three-way tie for fourth place in the league standings ... The Crusaders knocked off the Heidelberg Student Princes 62-49 at home on Wednesday in their most recent action ... Senior forward Erin Risner paces Capital with 12.4 points per contest while adding 7.8 rebounds per outing ... Junior forward Reagan Stonerock averages 8.8 rebounds per game, which ranks second-highest in the Ohio Athletic Conference this season.

Ohio Northern Probable Starters:

G - #11 Alyssa Manley, Sr. (5.1 ppg, 41 assists, 17 steals)
G - #15 Abby Weeks, Jr. (8.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 18 steals)
G - #31 Jenna Dirksen, Sr. (14.0 ppg, 40 assists, 27 3FGs)
F - #33 Tori Wyss, Sr. (5.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg)
F - #44 Sydney Ward, So. (2.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg)

ONU Statistical Leaders:

	Scoring			Rebounding			3FGs			Assists			Steals
1.	Dirksen	14.0	1.	Mescher	6.4	1.	Brock	32	1.	Manley	41	1.	Weeks	18
2.	Mescher	8.6		Wyss	6.4	2.	Dirksen	27	2.	Dirksen	40	2.	Manley	17
3.	Weeks	8.5	3.	Weeks	4.1	3.	Manley	14	3.	Weeks	27	3.	Dirksen	16

All-Time Series: Ohio Northern currently trails Capital 36-53 in the all-time series between the two programs ... The Crusaders have won the past two matchups, including a 63-56 affair inside the ONU Sports Center earlier this season on December 8, 2018.

ONU Head Coach Michele Durand: Durand is now in her 18th season at the helm of the Ohio Northern women's basketball program and sports a 308-169 record, a winning percentage of .646 ... She currently stands as the all-time winningest coach in program history.