MARIETTA, Ohio — The Marietta College women's basketball team scored the final seven points of the game to beat visiting Heidelberg University Saturday (Jan. 24) afternoon in Ban Johnson Arena. The Pioneers improve to 7-10 overall and 3-7 in the Ohio Athletic Conference. Heidelberg falls to 7-10 on the season and 5-5 in the OAC.
Despite scoring first, Heidelberg spent a vast majority of the first half playing from behind. Marietta converted 12 HU turnovers into 12 points.
With 2:47 left,
Heather Booth (Newport/Frontier) drained a jumper that put Marietta up 31-23. On the next two Heidelberg possessions, Allie Hawkins and Nicole Payne nailed 3-pointers, bringing HU within two. Hawkins converted a pair from the line with 1:32 remaining to tie the contest at 31. Both teams scored in the final minute and headed to the locker room knotted at 33.
Much like the first half, Heidelberg enjoyed early success in the second half, but Marietta soon took control. After a jumper by Theresa Jackson tied the game at 49, Marietta scored the next six points and forced Heidelberg to play catch-up.
MC's
Sierra Sigman (Chillicothe/Zane Trace) hit a layup with 5:22 remaining, giving the Pioneers a 64-57 advantage. Heidelberg scored the next eight points on three straight buckets by Jackson and a layup by Carli Patrick to take a 65-64 lead with 2:04 remaining.
Jessica Brogan (Cincinnati/Anderson) nailed a three-pointer to put the Pioneers back in front 67-65. Heidelberg's Theresa Jackson scored on a layup with 1:00 remaining in the game to even the score at 67-67.
Marietta scored on its final four possessions as
Brooke Borich (Beverly/Fort Frye) hit a jumper and
Amisha Herd (Zanesville/West Muskingum) scored on a layup forcing the Student Princes to foul. Borich hit a pair of free throws and Herd connected on one of two sealing the win.
Borich led all scorers with 18 points. Boothe was the only other Pioneer in double figures with 14 points. Herd grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while Brogan and
Ashley Barker (Mogadore/Mogadore) each had six boards.
Patrick notched a double-double for Heidelberg with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Jackson finished with 14 points and Paige Ricketts chipped in with 12.
For the game, Marietta shot 50.0% (31-of-62) from the floor, 46.2% (6-of-13) from three-point range and 42.9% (6-of-14) at the free throw line. Heidelberg was 25-of-56 (44.6%) from the floor, 4-of-14 (28.6%) behind the arc and 13-of-15 (86.7%) at the line.
Marietta edged the Student Princes on the glass 35-34. Heidelberg committed 17 turnovers, while the Pioneers turned the ball over 14 times.
Marietta travels to rival Muskingum University on Wednesday (Jan. 28) for a 7:30 p.m. contest. 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.
