MARIETTA, Ohio — No. 23 ranked Capital University needed overtime to escape Ban Johnson Arena with a 67-59 win over Marietta College Wednesday (Jan. 13) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference women's basketball. The Pioneers slip to 9-5 overall and 3-4 in the OAC, while the Crusaders move to 12-2 overall and 5-2 in league play.
Amisha Herd (Zanesville, Ohio/West Muskingum) led all scorers with 23 points. Herd hit 9-of-18 shot attempts from the floor and also grabbed five rebounds. Freshman
Corrie Burkhardt (Zanesville, Ohio/Philo) finished with 16 points and a team-high nine boards.
Morgan Liedtke (Lowell, Ohio/Fort Frye) chipped in with eight points and
Jo Herd-Middlebrooks (Columbus, Ohio/DeSales) notched eight rebounds.
Kristen Thompson led five Crusaders in double figures with 17 points. She dominated the glass pulling down 14 rebounds. Colleen Fondessy came off the bench to record a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Simonne Gage finished with 12 points, while Jenna Erwin had 11 and Nina Napolitano posted 10 markers.
Capital grabbed the early lead and a jumper from Thompson with five seconds left in the first quarter gave the Crusaders their biggest lead of the game, 20-8. Marietta cut the margin to eight, 30-22, at halftime.
Despite playing from behind for the vast majority of the game, the Pioneers kept pace with the nationally ranked Crusaders. Marietta trailed by three, 39-36, at the end of the third quarter and managed to take the lead briefly, 55-53, in the fourth quarter when Herd hit a jumper with 22 seconds left in regulation.
Gage answered with a layup for Capital to send the game into overtime tied at 55-55.
Marietta turned the ball over on its first two possession in overtime allowing Capital to go ahead 59-55. Herd cut the deficit in half with a jumper only to see Napolitano drain a three-pointer for a five-point CU lead with 2:0 left on the clock.
The Pioneers shot just 1-of-8 from the floor, including 0-for-5 from three-point range, in the extra period. Capital got five points each from Gage and Napolitano to put the game away.
For the game, Marietta shot 31.0% (22-of-71) from the floor, 18.2% (4-of-22) from three-point range and 68.8% (11-of-16) at the line. The Crusaders were 25-of-62 (40.3%) from the floor, 3-of-13 (23.1%) behind the arc and 14-of-20 (70.0%) at the line.
Capital edged the Pioneers on the glass, 47-44. The Crusaders turned the ball over 17 times, while Marietta committed 16 turnovers.
Marietta travels to Otterbein University on Saturday (Jan. 16). Tip off is set for 3:00 p.m. in Westerville. 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.
