The Ohio Northern women's basketball team brings back its second-, third- and fourth-leading scorers for the 2019-20 season. And while that's plenty of production coming back, the challenge for 19th-year head coach Michele Durand is identifying a new go-to scorer, and that may not be one single player.
"We've had that go-to player for quite a few years now, but I think it's going to be a committee of people this year," Durand said. "… Our motto is, 'Tough and together.' We really have to be tough and really have to be together. If we are together, I think we can win some games."
Senior forward Emily Mescher (Maria Stein/Marion Local) is the leading returning scorer. She started 19 of the 28 games and averaged 8.5 points and a team-high 6.5 rebounds per contest.
Senior guard Abby Weeks (West Chester/Mount Notre Dame) started 25 games and averaged 7.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per contest. Junior guard Emily Brock (Akron/Revere) rounds out the leading returnees after she chipped in 6.9 points per game as a sophomore.
"I think our strength is us being together, and I think our strength is our attitude," Durand said. "The kids have great attitudes, and their work ethic is fantastic. We don't have a ton of players that stand out, but we have a lot of good players, and they seem to have bought into what we are trying to do."
The Polar Bears finished the 2018-19 season at 15-13 overall and 7-11 in Ohio Athletic Conference play. ONU closed the season strong, winning their final two regular-season games to earn the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament.
Northern defeated No. 2-seeded Baldwin Wallace and No. 3-seeded Marietta to claim a spot in the championship game. The Polar Bears fell to top-seeded John Carroll 61-58 on a 3-pointer with under two seconds to play.
Last season was a perfect example of ONU playing its best basketball at the end of the season, and Durand will look to duplicate that again in 2019-20.
"I'd like to see us go through that process again and not worry about wins and losses," Durand said. "We just want to work toward getting better every day. I think that group did that last year, and hopefully we can do it again this year."
Along with the aforementioned three players, nine other lettermen return for Northern, which averaged 62 points per game last season. The Polar Bears ranked first in the OAC last year, allowing opponents to score an average of 58.8 points per contest.
ONU opens the 2019-20 season at Anderson (Ind.) Tuesday before a trip up north to the Wisconsin Lutheran Tournament. The Polar Bears open their home slate, and conference play, Dec. 7 against Mount Union.
