TIFFIN, Ohio — Heidelberg University held off Marietta College for a 51-48 victory Saturday (Dec. 12) afternoon in Ohio Athletic Conference women's basketball action. The Pioneers' three-point attempt to tie the game with five seconds left was blocked as Heidelberg escaped with the win.
Heidelberg (5-3 overall, 3-1 OAC) scored first and led for the entire first half. The Student Princes were ahead by eight, 13-5, at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 12 points in the second. HU took a 27-17 advantage into halftime.
Marietta (7-2 overall, 1-2 OAC) used a 15-2 run in the third period to take its first lead of the game, 34-33, with 2:39 left in the quarter.
Jo Herd-Middlebrooks (Columbus, Ohio/DeSales) got an offensive rebound and lay in to put the Pioneers in front.
The teams traded points for the remainder of the third quarter and Heidelberg clung to a one-point lead, 37-36, heading into the final 10 minutes of play. Marietta tied the game twice in the final period. Jenna Anderson made of two free throws at the 4:15 mark to even the score at 41 and
Corrie Burkhardt (Zanesville, Ohio/Philo) sank two throws with 1:16 left to knot the score at 48-48.
Maggie Devault drained a three-pointer with 19 seconds remaining to put the Student Princes in front 51-48. Following an MC timeout, the Pioneers missed a layup but got the ball back after forcing a Berg turnover.
Head coach
Stacia Shrider called a timeout with 11 seconds to set Marietta's plan of attack. The Pioneers worked the ball to
Brooke Borich (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) for the three-pointer. But Heidelberg's Marisa Liburdi blocked the potential tying bucket.
The Pioneers were unable to capitalize on Heidelberg's 27 turnovers. Marietta struggled from the floor shooting 26% from the floor and just 10% from three-point range. The Student Princes dominated the glass hauling in 57 rebounds to MC's 34.
Ashley Frasure (Logan, Ohio/Logan) was the lone Pioneer in double figures with 10 points. She grabbed four rebounds and blocked three Berg shots. Burkhardt finished with nine points and a team-best 10 rebounds.
Amisha Herd (Zanesville, Ohio/West Muskingum) chipped in with nine points and
Morgan Liedtke (Lowell, Ohio/Fort Frye) had eight markers.
Liburdo led Heidelberg with 10 points to go along with six boards. Carli Patrick added six points and 12 rebounds, while Theresa Jackson notched six points and 10 boards. Davault finished with nine points.
For the game, Marietta shot 26.2% (17-of-65) from the floor, 10.0% (2-of-20) from three-point range and 70.6% (12-of-17) at the line. Heidelberg was 18-of-56 (32.1%) from the floor, 3-of-17 (17.6%) behind the arc and 12-of-13 (92.3%) at the charity stripe.
Marietta wraps up a four-game road swing at Baldwin Wallace University on Wednesday (Dec. 16). Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. in Berea. 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.
