MARIETTA, Ohio — The University of Mount Union defeated Marietta College by the score of 64-61 Wednesday (Jan. 20) evening in Ohio Athletic Conference women's basketball action. The Pioneers slip to 9-7 overall and 3-6 in the OAC. Mount Union improves to 12-4 on the season and 6-3 in conference play.
Corrie Burkhardt (Zanesville, Ohio/Philo) led the Pioneers with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Brooke Borich (Beverly, Ohio/Fort Frye) scored 11 points off the bench, while
Morgan Liedtke (Lowell, Ohio/Fort Frye) chipped in with eight points.
Jo Herd-Middlebrooks (Columbus, Ohio/DeSales) finished with eight rebounds.
Mount's Annie Bova led all scorers with 29 points including four three-pointers. She also had six rebounds and three steals. Bella Pecchia notched 12 points and nine boards.
After playing to a 14-14 tie at the end of the first quarter, Marietta managed to pull in front and led by five, 33-28, at halftime. The Pioneers pushed the margin to nine points, 37-28, early in the third quarter, but the lead was short-lived.
Mount Union went on a 12-2 run to grab the lead, 40-39, on a jumper from Bova with 4:42 left in the third. The Purple Raiders outscored Marietta by 10 in the period and led 47-42 heading into the fourth quarter.
Burkhardt grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to make it a one-point game, 62-61, with 1:01 left in the game. On the ensuing possession, Mount worked the shot clock down to two seconds but turned the ball over before getting a shot off giving Marietta a chance for the go-ahead bucket.
Marietta called a timeout with 15 seconds on the clock to set up the potential game-winning shot. The Pioneers inbounded the ball and worked it around the perimeter. With five seconds left Herd-Middlebrooks drove to the basket and whistled for an offensive foul giving the ball back to Mount Union.
Marietta was forced to foul and Bova sank a pair of free throws to seal the victory for the Purple Raiders.
For the game, Marietta shot 34.4% (21-of-61) from the floor, 35.7% (5-of-14) from three-point range and 66.7% (14-of-21) at the line. The Purple Raiders were 24-of-66 (36.4%) from the floor, 6-of-25 (24.0%) behind the arc and 10-of-15 (66.7%) at the line.
Mount Union edged the Pioneers on the glass 48-40. The Raiders turned the ball over 11 times, while Marietta committed just eight turnovers.
Marietta hosts Heidelberg University on Saturday (Jan. 23). Tip off is set for 1:00 p.m. in Ban Johnson Arena. 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.
