MARIETTA, Ohio — Marietta College is set to host the 31st annual Jim Meagle Turkey Shoot Saturday and Sunday (Nov. 28-29) in Ban Johnson Arena. The annual women's basketball tournament is sponsored by BSN Sports.
The Pioneers are looking for their third Turkey Shoot title in the last five years and 15th overall. Marietta welcomes a strong field in 2015 including
Hiram College,
Case Western Reserve University and the
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Ind.).
Marietta and Hiram open the tournament on Saturday at 6:00 p.m. Case Western and Rose-Hulman face off at 8:00 p.m. Sunday's schedule features the Consolation Game at 1:00 p.m. followed by the Championship Game at 3:00 p.m.
Stacia Shrider, in her fourth season at the helm, has the Pioneers off to their best start in over 25 years after winning the first four games of the season. MC opened the season with three straight wins on the road before defeating Wooster, 83-74, earlier in the week in the home opener.
The Pioneers sport the tournament's the most potent and balanced offense. Marietta is averaging 70.0 points per game and has four players averaging in double figures, more than the other three teams.
Sophomore guard
Brooke Borich (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) leads the Pioneers with 11.8 points per game. Borich is also the team's leading shooter hitting 57.6% from the floor. Freshman forward
Corrie Burkhardt (Zanesville, Ohio/Philo) is averaging a double-double with 10.8 points ad 11.0 rebounds per night.
Sophomores
Ashley Frasure (Logan, Ohio/Logan) and
Amisha Herd (Zanesville, Ohio/West Muskingum) are also in double figures through four games. Frasure averages 10.5 points, 7.0 rebounds and has a team-high 13 blocked shots. Herd, the team leader with 22 assists and 15 steals, is averaging 10.3 points.
Under the direction of second-year head coach Emily Hays, the Terriers of Hiram College enter the weekend with a 4-1 overall record. Hiram's lone loss was a two-point overtime setback against Fredonia State.
The Terriers are led by 6-foot sophomore center Mercedes Jones. Jones has scored an even 100 points in the first five games for an average of 20.0 per night. She also leads in rebounding with 9.8 per game. In addition to Jones, junior guard Kayla Yost averages 11.8 points and 6.6 boards per game.
The Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology is led by head coach Jon Prevo, in his tenth season with the Engineers. RHIT enters the weekend with a 2-0 overall record after sweeping a pair of games at the Albion College Tip-Off Tournament last weekend.
Rose-Hulman has just one player averaging in double figures as the team is averaging just 55.0 points in its first two games. However, the Engineer defense has allowed only 49.5 points per game and RHIT has held its opponents to 31.4% shooting from the floor.
6-foot-3 junior forward Josie Schmidt leads the Engineers with 10.5 points per game. Fellow junior Abbie Marshall chips in with 9.5 points and a team-best 9.0 rebounds per outing.
Case Western Reserve University comes into the tournament with a 1-3 overall record as ninth-year head coach Jennifer Reimer looks to get the Spartans moving in the right direction. After three losses to start the season, Case Western defeated Elmira, 81-65, in its last game.
The Spartans are led by 5-foot-11 sophomore forward Kara Hageman's 17.8 points per game. Hageman also averages 8.3 rebounds and has dished out a team-high 12 assists. Junior guard Jessica McCoy averages 15.0 points, while freshman Hillary Hellmann is averaging 13.3 points and a team-best 8.5 boards.
Fans can follow all the Pioneer teams all year long at
pioneers.marietta.edu. You can also follow the Pioneers on Facebook at
facebook.com/MariettaCollege and @MariettaPioneer on Twitter and Instagram.
