ADA, Ohio — It was a tale of two halves as Ohio Northern University came from behind to defeat Marietta College by the score of 51-48 Sunday (Feb. 22) afternoon. The Polar improve to 20-5 overall and claimed the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title with a 16-2 league record. The Pioneers are 9-16 overall and 5-13 in the OAC and will be the eighth seed in the OAC Tournament.
Marietta shot 50% from the floor and hit five three-pointers in the first half, while Ohio Northern struggled early on. The Polar Bears shot just 25% in the first half and trailed 32-20 at the break.
ONU regrouped and opened the second half with a 5-0 run trimming the deficit to seven, 32-25, with 15:45 remaining. The Pioneers quickly responded and pushed the lead back to 12 points, 39-27, two minutes later.
As the Polar Bears shooting touch was warming up, Marietta's was cooling off. The Pioneers scored one point over the next five minutes as ONU went on an 11-1 run to get within two points, 40-38, with just over eight minutes left on the clock. A three-pointer from Carly Thomas at 5:26 put the Polar Bears in front for the first time in the second half, 45-43.
A
Heather Booth (Newport/Frontier) jumped on the ensuing possession tied the game at 45-45. Thomas answered right back with another trey and ONU would not trail again. Marietta had a chance to force overtime, but a late three-pointer was off the mark.
Booth led Marietta with 12 points and four assists. Senior
Jessica Brogan (Cincinnati/Anderson) just missed a double-double with nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Sophomore
Morgan Liedtke (Lowell/Fort Frye) finished with eight points.
Thomas and Jordan Kimes paced the Polar Bears with 16 points each. Thomas drained four three-pointers, while Kimes grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
For the game, Marietta shot 35.3% (18-of-51) from the floor, 40.0% (6-of-15) from three-point range and 54.5% (6-of-11) at the line. Ohio Northern was 18-of-53 (34.0%) from the floor, 5-of-14 (35.7%) behind the arc and 10-of-14 (71.4%) at the line.
The Polar Bears outrebounded Marietta 44-30. The Pioneers committed 15 turnovers, while Ohio Northern turned the ball over 18 times.
Marietta opens OAC Tournament play on Monday (Feb. 23) at No. 5 seed Wilmington College. Tipoff is set for 7:30 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.
