UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio — No. 25 ranked John Carroll University escaped with a 67-63 victory over Marietta College Saturday (Dec. 20) afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference women's basketball action. The Blue Streaks improve to 8-1 on the season and 3-1 in the OAC. Marietta slips to 4-6 overall and 1-4 in the OAC.
In a game that featured eight lead changes and six ties, the Pioneers gave John Carroll all they could handle. The game was close from start to finish as the biggest lead if the game was a mere seven points.
Sophomores
Morgan Liedtke (Lowell/Fort Frye) and
Jordanna Rauch (Fleming/Warren) led the Pioneers with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Liedtke hit a career-best four three-pointers to go along with four steals, while Rauch equaled her career-high in points.
Freshman
Ashley Frasure (Logan/Logan) just missed a double-double with eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Fellow rookie
Amisha Herd (Zanesville/West Muskingum) dished out a game-best five assists. Senior
Candice Alexander (Fairborn/Fairborn) finished with eight points and five rebounds.
JCU's Katlyn Spahar hit 10-of-19 shots and finished with 25 points, eight rebounds, five steals and three assists. Emily Taylor added 11 points and Beth Switzler had eight points and 10 boards.
After trading the lead for most of the first half the Pioneers appeared to be heading into halftime with a slim three-point lead after Frasure sank a pair of free throws with 10 seconds left on the clock. JCU inbounded the ball and raced up the floor where Taylor drained a three as time expired knotting the score at 28.
The Blue Streaks scored the first seven points of the second half to build a 35-28 lead. Marietta worked itself back into the game and a layup from Rauch at the 15:17 mark tied the game at 38.
Once again John Carroll ran off seven straight points to equal their biggest lead of the game, 45-38, with 13:45 left on the clock. Marietta cut the deficit to one only to see JCU push it right back to seven, 54-47, at the 8:03 mark.
Marietta got within a point twice in the final minute of play. Alexander hit a jumper with 45 seconds left to make it 61-60 and then Rauch nailed a three-pointer with 16 ticks on the clock to make it 64-63. John Carroll connected on three of four free throws in the waning seconds to secure the victory.
For the game, Marietta was 24-of-57 (42.1%) from the floor, 8-of-17 (47.1%) from three-point range and 7-of-14 (50.0%) at the line. John Carroll shot 35.9% (23-of-64) from the floor, 31.3% (5-of-16) from behind the arc and 59.1% (16-of-27) at the charity stripe.
The Blue Streaks outrebounded Marietta 45-41. The Pioneers committed 21 turnovers, while JCU turned the ball over 16 times.
Marietta is back in action after Christmas when the Pioneers travel San Juan, Puerto Rico for a pair of games in the San Juan Shootout. Marietta plays Suffolk University on Sunday (Dec. 28) at 2:00 p.m. and Skidmore College on Monday (Dec. 29) at 6:00 p.m.
Fans can follow the Pioneers all season long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
