MARIETTA, Ohio – For the second time in three days the Marietta College women's basketball team will square off against John Carroll University. Only this time a shot at the Ohio Athletic Conference championship is at stake.
The Pioneers travel to University Heights for a 6:00 p.m. tip-off against the Blue Streaks on Monday (Feb. 18) in the first round of the OAC Tournament. The winner advances to the quarterfinals and will play at No. 3 seed Mount Union on Tuesday (Feb. 19).
Marietta (10-15 overall, 5-13 OAC) is the No. 7 seed, while John Carroll (13-12 overall, 6-12 OAC) is seeded sixth. The Pioneers defeated the Blue Streaks 71-61 in the regular season finale last Saturday in Ban Johnson Arena. John Carroll won the first meeting in University Heights by the score of 80-65.
Marietta is making its second straight appearance in the league tournament. The Pioneers fell at Baldwin Wallace in the first round last year after qualifying for the tournament for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
Junior guard
Tori Dixon (Londonderry/Vinton County) leads the Pioneer attack averaging 11.1 points per game. Dixon is the leading three-point shooter in the OAC hitting 2.6 treys per contest. Sophomore forward
Candice Alexander (Fairborn/Fairborn) averages 10.3 points per game and a team-leading 6.7 rebounds. Alexander leads the OAC in blocked shots with 1.3 per game.
Rounding out the probable starting lineup for Marietta will be sophomore forward
Heather Booth (Newport/Frontier) who is averaging 9.6 points and 5.5 rebounds. Senior point guard
Krissy Rowe (Toledo/Sylvania Southview) and junior guard
Paige Lamb (Marietta/Marietta). Rowe is averaging 6.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Lamb is currently averaging 4.8 points and 4.2 rebounds.
Junior forward Melissa Spahar leads John Carroll averaging 16.7 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Beth Switzler is currently averaging 11.8 points and 4.6 rebounds.
Junior point guard Allison Lustig leads the OAC in assists averaging 5.2 per game. In addition, she is scoring 9.5 points and pulling down 3.5 rebounds per outing. Freshman guard Elissa Day and junior forward Hillary Liwosz are JCU's other probable starters. Day averages 6.2 points and 2.1 rebounds, while Liwosz averages 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds per game.
Ticket prices are $10 for adults, $7 for senior citizens (62 and older), and $3 for non-OAC students. OAC Students with proper identification as well as owners of OAC Lifetime passes will be admitted free of charge. There will be no reserved seating, pre-sale or OAC parent pass privileges for any OAC Tournament contest.
Fans can catch the action live at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter.
